Newtown
Dear Editor: The events surrounding Newtown, Conn., affected me deeply – as I’m sure they have for you. But maybe some of us think differently about assault weapons and the ability to shoot multiple people quickly and efficiently, although I am supportive of hunting and the people who enjoy guns as recreation and hobby.
But I am not supportive of guns that are solely intended to shoot people. I think we in Sitka take it for granted that guns are for hunting or protection from bears or to shoot halibut too big to haul aboard without endangering ourselves. But, that is not the case in many places down south. Two out of three Floridians have hidden guns – and that’s just in Florida. These guns are only purchased and carried to shoot people, not food.
One of the reasons that I love Alaska is my perceived personal freedom. I hope you will exercise your personal freedom by not blindly following the NRA and realizing that assault weapons and weapons that are intended to shoot other people, particularly concealed ones, are not in any of our best interests – especially our innocent kindergarten and first graders.
Bill Hutton, Sitka
Gun Control
Dear Editor: Wednesday’s letter pertaining to Gun Control in banning semi-automatic weapons is a Classic example of taking a verifiable true fact, taken out of context, to build the large scale lie.
The Fact: The American Revolutionaries only had “flintlocks.”
The lie: The Founders would never have OK’d the Right to Keep and Bear Arms of the semi-automatic nature.
The historical context: The American Revolutionaries used the most modern firearms and artillery they were able to procure, through whatever means they could. Had the American Revolutionaries used only Government “approved” weapons, such as long bows, cross bows, spears, etc., these same Revolutionaries, many of whom we venerate as “Founding Fathers” would have most assuredly been hung together or separately.
The 2nd Amendment is there for one primary reason: It “being necessary to the security of a free state.” The “State” to which this refers is not the United States; it is each individual, Sovereign State.
From the Delaware Declaration of Rights 11 Sept. 1776: “Sect. 18. That a well regulated militia is the proper, natural and safe defence of a free government.” The thing from which they were defending themselves was an oppressive and arbitrary Government.
The Bill of Rights does not “Grant” us Rights. The Bill of Rights Preserves the Inalienable Human Rights with which we are “Endowed by our Creator.”
“The militia is the natural defense of a free country against sudden foreign invasions, domestic insurrections, and domestic usurpation of power by rulers. The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of the republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally ... enable the people to resist and triumph over them.” Joseph Story, Supreme Court Justice
“Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms ... The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard, against the tyranny which now appears remote in America but which historically has proven to be always possible.” - Hubert H. Humphrey
Robert Thom, Sitka
