Editorial -- Stafford County, VA

[DaveH]

Editorial: Gun control necessary in today's crazy world | Stafford County Sun

Editorial: Gun control necessary in today’s crazy world
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Published: April 2, 2010

In an age where anyone can get a gun, times need to change.

Not everyone can be trusted to be sane, think rationally and be competent while handling a gun, and for that reason in addition to numerous others, guns need to be taken away from the dangerous hands that hold them.

Sure, there are law-abiding citizens that want to keep guns in order to have “the right to protect themselves.” But, how many times have accidents happened to these people, too? How many times has a child wandered into their parents’ bedroom and discovered a new toy, only for the gun to go off and kill or injure the child?

How many times are people successful in protecting themselves with a gun when an intruder enters their home?

More often than not, guns result in more trouble than protection other than through use by law enforcement, trained or military personnel.

In select countries, safety problems don’t exist like we have in the United States because guns aren’t available to the degree that they are here.

When we’ll drive down the road and shoot each other over a road-rage incident, or over an argument with a neighbor, that’s when we should all sit down and wonder if something is really wrong with society, and the way many of us choose to live our lives. It should be a warning sign that change is necessary.

Stafford County Sun editorials represent the opinion of the managing editor. Other columns, letters and cartoons on his page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily the Stafford County Sun.

If there is any truth to the statement, "More often than not, guns result in more trouble than protection other than through use by law enforcement, trained or military personnel" it must lie in the fact that trouble from the criminals who violate laws (including the Gun Laws) carry guns and prey on law-abiding citizens who don't carry enough guns.

So the solution would be to encourage law-abiding citizens to carry, as we have seen from the rash of shootings in Chicago over the last few days that Chicago's draconian restrictions on gun rights are being violated by criminals leaving the unarmed law-abiding citizens at their mercy.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Hiram25]

This editorial may be well meaning, but their thinking is skewed. If we took every single weapon off the streets, from the law abiding folks, only the BG's would be armed. They would then have free roam among the to do with as they please. Things would go from bad to worse in very short order. Accidents do happen, but it is due to negligence on the adults part, you can train the untrained, you can not fix stupid!

I'll keep my weapons, and at least I'll have a chance to protect myself and family. Who knows, I might even save your behind!

Dave M.

[muzzleloader]

that managing editor's arguments are so wrong and so weak that he actually makes the argument that not everyone should be trusted with the right to free press.

[Bandolero]

This is not the Stafford County I once lived in...

[sniper58]

In select countries, safety problems don’t exist like we have in the United States because guns aren’t available to the degree that they are here.

The writer forgot to mention the violence and mayhem against the now un-armed citizens. Never let fact get in the way of a liberal fantasy...........

[retsupt99]

This editorial staff is composed of a bunch of moroooons...

They have no idea of what this increasingly dangerous world is all about.

[varob]

This is not the Stafford County I once lived in...

+1 on that.

[Rob P.]

The editorial starts with a wrong premise and goes downhill from there. It's a total fantasy and a relatively poor attempt to support an opinion with outdated facts and very bad analysis.

I know junior high kids who can create a better argument than this one.

[GunGeezer]

The exact same things can be said for owning automobiles. You can't expect everyone to be able to drive one sanely and rationally. For the number of firearms estimated to be in the hands of law abiding citizens, accidents and incidents of misuse are infinitesimally small. The same cannot be said for armed criminals possessing and using guns illegally. Show me how restrictive gun control laws in cities like Chicago, Washington DC, and states like Wisconsin have lowered violent crime rates and I'll be glad to talk about keeping my gun at home. Prove to me that a 911 call will be answered in the time it takes to pull a trigger and we can talk about easy access to guns. We know what's being done to get the guns from criminals hasn't worked, doesn't work and won't work in the future so why not try making it easier for law abiding citizens to arm themselves as a means of defending their lives? Make training mandatory and consistent if you must but don't cling to tired cliches like turning the streets into wild west shootouts. In states where CC is permitted, nothing of the sort has happened and violent crimes have actually gone down. These are facts, not the rantings of politicians who garner votes by making people afraid of ideas that might possibly succeed and plan their campaigns on partisantisim.
In over two hundred and thirty some odd years, the only law I can think of that was ever repealed was prohibition. Surely there must have been a few other laws that were misconceived or outright wrong. Has there ever been a politician who admitted responsibility for passing a bad law? We need responsible people in many more areas than gun ownership and politics is as good a place to start as any.

[searcher 45]

I hope very few folks read this poorly thought through dribble!!!

[SIGguy229]

Here's the thing....no one really reads this fishwrap of a paper....

[press1280]

"When we’ll drive down the road and shoot each other over a road-rage incident, or over an argument with a neighbor, that’s when we should all sit down and wonder if something is really wrong with society, and the way many of us choose to live our lives. It should be a warning sign that change is necessary."

The same blood in the streets theory that's been debunked in state by state starting with Florida in 1987. We have lower crime today than the 1960's-80's which were the high point of gun control.