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Guns column saw all sides

To the editor,

I have read your commentary ("Cold truth about guns," Friday's Wildcat) and if this is your quality of work, I am looking forward to a Wildcat far superior to previous years.

You took a moral dilemma and actually tried to look at all sides. I am a recent NRA member; it seemed time for me to stand up and be counted. The issue seems to me to be one of empowerment: can we, by enacting gun control laws, disempower criminals (I doubt it), should we, by not enacting such laws, allow citizens to empower themselves if they choose, or is there some other solution?

As a historian, you know the centuries of abuses our founders endured from their own governments which made them put the ownership of weapons right after free speech and religion. You also know that there are people in the world who will do exactly as they please until someone stops them, and big talk doesn't count.

If you're particularly interested in this issue, the NRA has a Web site, and they include references - rare among political advocacy groups. They are notably lacking in statistics on the criminal use of firearms, something I have complained to them about.

Rather than non-violence, a fantasy even in India, maybe the answer is responsibility. This requires understanding your rights and the consequences of your actions, along with lessons in not shooting yourself in the foot.

Maybe we need firearms education, like we have driver training and sex ed? What an outcry that would bring.

Jay A. Shumway

UA alum