Guest Editorial
JANUARY 2, 2013
Gun control: An opinion
I was appalled to read in the paper recently that the law-abiding residents of Tucson brought all their firearms to the police to be destroyed. Did the robbers, the rapists, the murderers, the drug addicts and other assorted criminals and vagrants currently walking the streets, also turn in their firearms? Do the residents of Tucson really think the police can protect all the citizens all the time? I think not!
You might have read of our experience at the local airport near Reserve, New Mexico about twenty years ago. We were camping out with our small plane at a county airport with a locked gate and fences, when at 2:30 a.m., three armed drunks crashed through the gate and one entered our plane to take it for a ride while we were sleeping in the back. Needless to say we went for our guns immediately and my husband talked them out of going for a ride. I am convinced that he would not have been able to do that if he had not been armed (as they were armed also). Call the police? Sure, if there was a phone. We used out aircraft radio to contact a passing airliner, which in turn did NOT send help. We were forced to spend the rest of the night in the tall grass, away from the airplane for fear they would come back (which they did, twice!) We called the police in the morning and they promptly arrested the men.
So what would have happened had we not had our guns? I don’t even want to think about it!
You may remember the nice Tison family whose sons helped him escape from prison and their pal Greenawalt, who went on a three state rampage, wantonly killing a man, woman, their baby, and severely injuring their nursemaid, simply because they wanted the family’s car. What a GOOD REASON to squander the lives of three people whose only mistake was to stop and offer to help them! Call the police? How? I’ll bet they wished they had a gun!
Quick to follow, were the deaths of a young newlywed couple, camping out on their honeymoon in Colorado. The Tison/Greenawalt Merry Marauders needed another car. Again, senseless slaughter. Call the police? How? I’ll bet they wished they had a gun!
Just recently you may remember reading about a young mother and her three children at home alone in the Buckeye area. The husband had gone away for the weekend on a hunting trip. Along comes a man who says he has car trouble and needs to use a phone. She helps this man; he leaves and returns a while later with his gun and murders her for her trouble. Call the police? Sure she had a phone, she could have. Would they have reached her in time to stop the murder? I doubt it. I’ll bet she wished she had a gun!
The stories are endless; just pick up the newspaper or turn on the television and you will hear of some frightened individual who has absolutely nothing to lose, taking advantage of someone else for a paltry sum of money or a piece of jewelry. Once these people have killed, they are over the edge; they know the punishment will be the same whether they kill one person or forty. Look at Ted Bundy! They could kill him only once. And he knew that. All those young lives he snuffed out without the least bit of conscience. Call the police? How? I’ll bet each and every young girl wished she had a gun!
Then there was the shop owner who just recently killed an armed robber during an attempted holdup. Good for him! HE didn’t stand there pleading for his life. He recognized that it was a “you or me” situation and that there was NO TIME to call the police. I’ll bet he was glad he had a gun!
How thankful I am that we were properly armed at the time of our distress. I am now able to write this letter to all people who do not have any kind of armed protection. In my opinion, you should go out, buy a large caliber gun and learn to use it properly. Take it to a firing range and become so proficient with it you will feel confident to use it if the need arises. I am not saying we all need to go around killing each other, but if it comes down to a “you or me” confrontation and there is no immediate help, you will be very glad you decided to protect yourself. The police cannot be everywhere at one time and even if there is a phone handy, it will take time for then to get to you. By that time it is usually too late. Murders, robbers, and the like do not stay around long enough to be arrested. The bad guys ay eventually be caught, but that will do you no good because you will have been shot while pleading for your life. These people have no regard or compassion for another human being or for the lives they so ruthlessly take. The remorse they feel is the same as you would feel for the fly you just killed. Until the law-enforcement agencies can rid the streets of ALL the criminals, you will have to help the police protect you. They cannot do it alone.
I hope you will read this letter in the spirit in which it has been offered, and please, consider going out and ARMING yourselves!
Otherwise, in the event of a confrontation, the very last words you will ever say will be “I wish I had a gun!”
Think about it – very hard!
