OPINION -
I was offended by Ben Greer's statement that "liberals don't use logic." [Liberal illogic on guns, February 16].
That's crazy! I'm very intellectual and logical, Thank you very much! I am not big on guns, because of the millions of lives they take (human and non-human).
Just think of all the suicides and drive-by shootings caused by guns! Guns, to me, are like bombs or any other "agents of violence." I am against a violent "might makes right" society. In Ireland, the cops don't even carry guns! They don't have to! What does that tell us about our country? What a shame.
Teresa C.
Joliet
OPINION - I might have been a bit hesitant to say that "liberals don't use logic" in a public forum, but after reading the response of Teresa C. to Ben Greer, I might be a bit quicker to "jump the gun" in saying so, no pun intended of course.
Teresa claims to be "very intellectual and logical," she doesn't like guns because of the millions of lives they take. One thing I find interesting is that she seems to throw all incidents of gun violence in one category without differentiating the motive or reason behind the violence.
I'm sure Teresa, being the "logical intellect" that she is, is capable of distinguishing between the law-abiding citizen that uses his legally acquired firearm to defend him/herself against an imminent threat, and the gang bangers shooting each other.
Does Teresa believe that every incident of gun violence is bad? While their use may be regrettable, I would hope that even she would concede some gun violence is necessary. What about the law-abiding citizen that uses a gun to protect his/her family? Or all that icky gun violence in the American Civil War that eventually saved the Union and freed the slaves? Or the Allied soldiers that used guns to kill thousands of German, Japanese and Italian soldiers in WWII? Should we talk about the police officers that carry and use guns to subdue criminals?
It is even a tad offensive to equate the gun violence employed by a Soviet KGB agent who shoots a political prisoner in the back of the neck and dumps him into an unmarked grave with the gun violence of Sgt. Alvin C. York as he killed dozens of German soldiers who were machine gunning his buddies and subsequently was awarded the Medal of Honor.
I'm sure Teresa is a strong advocate of gun control. Well, let's make mention of the brave men that overthrew the British Government with guns, and lots of them. Is she aware that this country that she lives in today was initially formed because of the response to an act of gun control by the British Government? Then again, given that the catalyst for this marvelous creation of constitutional liberty was so politically incorrect, perhaps her teachers did not tell her of the Battles of Concorde and Lexington.
I wonder, would Teresa suggest that we should have just laid down our arms and submit to the monarchial rule of the British Government to avoid all that nasty "gun violence?"
I suppose if we were trying to be "logical," we should be capable of seeing that despite the absolute restriction of guns in places like Chicago and Washington D.C., these two places continue to lead the country in the per capita homicide rates every year...maybe we can accept the fact that gun control just does not work.
Teresa, I have an interesting tidbit for you about a country whose cops don't carry guns. Following the 1997 Dunblane massacre of 16 children and a teacher at a primary school, Great Britain banned handguns and other weapons with the aim of making the country a safer place to live in. While falling short of declaring that its policies were misguided, recent government statements are a stark admission that it has failed miserably in its drive to make the UK a safer country to live in. Violent firearm offences have risen by 42 per cent since 1997! Shadow Home Secretary Oliver Letwin accused the government of failure: "These figures are truly terrible. They will continue to be dreadful until the government produces a coherent long-term strategy to attack crime at its roots and get police visibly back on our streets." Oh yes, more of the famed British Bobbies are carrying guns now in response to all this.
I'm sure she must understand that cocaine is illegal. There is not a "Cocaine Owners Identification Card," or a 72 hour waiting period for heroin, yet criminals still manage to get there hands on them. How is that?
Going by the rationale of Teresa: if we can just outlaw something, then nobody will have access to it, right? The only thing that gun control does is take a means of self defense away from the law-abiding citizen, and give that right to the criminals that wish to harm us. Because we all know, criminals will get it no matter what the law says, which is one of the differences between criminals and the law-abiding, criminals already don't have any regard for the law, which is why they break the law.
Gun control laws are not targeting the criminals, only the law-abiding. I'm sure the "intellectual and logical" mind of Teresa already knew that though.
I'm sorry Teresa, I think I'll have to side with Ben Greer on this one, liberals really don't use logic!