The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Our Readers Speak

March 6, 2013

Our Readers Speak — Wednesday, March 6, 2013

— Think about gun control comments



I’ve been reading, in The Register-Herald, all the comments Sheriff Steve Tanner’s interview has generated and I need to set the record straight on a couple of issues.

First of all, the sheriff never called the President a moron. He said, and I quote, ‘Only a handful of morons think this is a good idea’. He never mentioned anyone in particular. If you are so conditioned that, whenever someone says ‘handful of morons’, you immediately think Obama, then you are the one with a problem. Not our sheriff.  

Secondly, there has been talk about fully automatic weapons. That has nothing to do with this ban. Fully automatic weapons have been tightly controlled since the gun control act of 1934 and the production of these guns was totally banned in 1981. That ban has never been lifted or expired and you still can't just walk into Walmart and buy one.

This ban is based entirely on superficial characteristics and has nothing to do with the weapons capabilities. In other words, they are trying to ban guns that look scary. Not the ones that operate any differently than the ones you hunt with. Depending on how the bill is ultimately worded, your papaw’s Remington 742, that he has deer hunted with for the past 50 years, may very well be an assault weapon.

The really scary part of this proposed legislation is the Universal Background Checks. Sounds innocuous enough but, basically, it will create a database of every gun owner. The government will know who you are, what you have and where you live. That is gun registration by another name and, every time that has occurred throughout history, the very next step was confiscation. If you are a gun owner and this passes, you may be getting a knock at the door.

Even if you don't like guns, this should scare you. If the government gets rid of the Second Amendment, do you think the rest of them will be safe? If you do, you may be disappointed. If not, then you need to speak up. Call your legislators and let them know how you feel. If you don't act quickly, you might not ever get another chance.

Michael McMillion

Beckley

 

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