Unfortunately, Kenneth Kowald’s Jan. 17-23 article “NRA has no right to dictate who should live and die” is filled with the same illogical, irrational cliches we have been putting up with for years from the anti-gun extremists.
He asks if anyone should have a weapon except for sport and hunting? Why don’t we ask if anyone should have a baseball bat except if you are a pro ballplayer or a hammer except if you are a carpenter? It is a fact that more people are murdered by bats, clubs, hammers and knives than by rifles of any kind. So I guess we should enact knife control except if you are a chef.
Secondly, according to the law, I do not have to justify why I want to own a firearm. The burden of proof is on the government to tell me why I cannot, but most astonishingly Kowald says he knows what is in the U.S. Constitution, but let us get past that.
Let us get past that? What other parts of the Bill of Rights should we get past because Kowald does not like them? Freedom of speech? Freedom of the press? Right to due process?
He then says that the Constitution is not the Ten Commandments — fair enough — and if you do not like the Second Amendment, then go through the amendment process and change it. In the meantime, it is the law and you cannot just choose to get past it.
The National Rifle Association is not five guys in a room trying to direct our lives. It is made up of millions of ordinary Americans, like me, who want our concerns represented in Washington. Neither you, Kowald, nor any of the anti-gun fanatics have the right to dictate what rights we are entitled to and which rights can be ignored, especially my right to protect myself and my family.
John LaPorte
Whitestone
