Letters to the Editor thread.

[Miggy]

I am guessing I am not the only one this morning who woke up to the local newspaper blaming the NRA and the Gun Culture for the V-Tech massacre. Right now I am composing a letter to the Miami Herald regarding today's blame-the-NRA editorial and I thought it would be a good idea to pool our letters into one thread with the idea to use each others ideas and styles to make the most powerful presentation possible.

So, if you wish, post here and let's help each other.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Miggy]

My letter to the Miami Herald:

Surprising nobody, the Miami Herald places the blame on the Virginia Tech Massacre on the NRA. I guess it is easier to find a Political Usual Suspect than actually think. The Miami Herald has been opposed to every piece of legislation that favors Law Abiding Citizen's right to defend him or herself, from legally carrying a concealed weapon to the expansion of the Castle Doctrine and always saying that our streets would be covered in blood from all the people shooting each other over a traffic dispute. On each and every occasion the Miami Herald has been wrong. The Miami Herald and many others celebrated the concept of a Gun Free Zone as a "sensible method" to keep people safe. Unfortunately, the tragic event at Virginia Tech proved the concept deadly wrong.
The NRA warned that a Gun Free Zone would create a target-rich environment for any criminal or deranged individual. They were ignored by those intent on selling a feel-good legislation instilling a false sense of security on people. The Herald played along with that concept and again. You were wrong, very wrong.
So don't blame the NRA or Law Abiding Gun Owners for the Virginia Tech Massacre, blame those who supported Gun Free Zones as assurance that nobody would go into these “safe” areas with a gun. Jose Varela and Arthur E. Teele and Cho Seung-Hui proved otherwise.

Note: Arthur Teele was a commisioner who was under investigation for, IIRC, bribery and other host of corruption related offenses. He went in the Miami Herald building with a gun and commited suicide while talking to a reporter on the phone. Jose Varela was a cartoonist who went also inside the Miami Heral building with a gun (which turned out to be a toy gun, but the point was proven) leading to a major police mobilization hours of negotiations. The Miami Herald has a very strict No Guns On Property policy and I felt that the Herald needed to be reminded about how "succesful" their own policy was.

I do not expect to see my letter published, but I did post it in their website comment section. They have not printed one letter of mine in years but that will not stop me.

If your letter gets published, let me know!

[retsupt99]

Well written...

ret

[nn]

Well written letter; but, your right nothing will come of it unless you can find a source to get it public.

[Miggy]

I justt checked the Online version of their editorial. It has a "Comments" section so readers can post thier opinions. There were 17 of them: 14 pro-gun, 2 anti and one who I dont think he knoews were he is standing.

Some examples:

There you go again! We already have 20,000 gun control laws in the United States. Why do we need more? And please do not insult those of us who believe that had those students been armed, the shooter wouldnt' have gotten so far. We are not pathetic. We are realists who realize that the Second Amendment was written for a reason: the government cannot protect you all the time. Remember Hurricane Andrew's aftermath? When many homeowners put up signs in their damaged houses warning prospective looters that the homeowners were armed? The National Guard did not arrive here for days. How many of those protected homes were vandalized?And how about Scotland in 1996, and Germany in 2002? Those are countries with strict gun control laws that saw horrific massacres. Gun control laws do not make us safer; it only makes us easier victims.

So we're blaming the NRA for this?
All or nothing. This is the typical reaction to an event such as this. The only problem is the hasty conclusions and accusations that are being made without all of the facts. That's right people - facts. I'll listen to what the police have to say about this incident, not the media. Last I heard the Police didn't have to worry about their advertisement dollars. I come from the Midwest originally. I recall all of us having rifles in our trucks while they sat in our high school parking lot. Yeah thats right, HIGH SCHOOL! None of us ever, EVER pulled those rifles. I can't explain why. I suppose we never took anything too seriously. Maybe life was special, or maybe it was our parents, again I don't know. I consider myself well educated and have been fortunate enough in my 40 yr life to travel abroad and after all of that I still don't know why this incident happened. I do know history though, I majored in it, in school and life. So I know things like this happen, bottom line, they just do. This won't be the last time either. Take guns away, hire armed gaurds, require stricter student registration procedures, immigration procedures, it won't matter. Evil will always exist. It is determined to afflict suffering to the innocent, I know this. I accept it and therefore I live unlike many Americans who live in denial. I am prepared for it as lawfully as possible, i'm not paranoid, just prepared. My fellow average americans are a funny bunch, they think that by denying the existence of evil that it will go away. Again, and so unfortunately, another incident has proved them wrong. Let's try to be decent people and fix problems - NOT BLAME!

...and this was not the "surprise" that most of these incidents are. Two instructors tried to warn the campus police about the disturbed nature of the killer's mind and were told there was "nothing they could do." THAT'S what needs to be changed: there needs to be a system by which these emotionally volatile people can be taken off the streets. We are so obsessed with personal freedom in this country that it has become the one country where your personal freedoms include the "right to slaughter innocent bystanders." That's where we need to start.

[tanksoldier]

RMGO sent out an alert about an article which will appear in the Daily Camera tomorrow:

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007...eapons-policy/

My response:

The idea that private citizens with CCW permits would complicate a scene absolutely blows my mind.

A private citizen with a CHL would have made the VT catastrophe WORSE? Worse than a madman walking down the hall shooting defenseless students out of hand? Police officers handle private citizens with concealed weapon permits OFF campus just fine. Something about being on campus makes the situation more confusing, or perhaps the police less competent?

The fact is that college campuses throughout the country are run by liberal bliss-ninnies who think that the government can run everything better by central control and taking the responsibility AND ability of the private citizen to defending himself away. Police officers can't be everywhere, you can't carry one around in your pocket. At best they often can do no more than catch the criminal after the fact.

The idea that students and faculty are made more safe by being made defenseless was proven bloodily incorrect at Virginia Tech. I hope SOMEBODY learns the lesson.

[Miggy]

So I open the Miami Herald this morning and go straight for the Editorial page. To no surprise I find three letters to the editor all in favor of Gun Control. Now I know that several emails were sent with the opposite view and coming down on the Gun Free Zone folly plus the posts in their website but nothing of the such appeared in their printed version.
Sad to see the the Miami Herald is a partisan rag. Again, not surprising.

And not that is going to make me stop. No Sir.

Lesson: Although we may not be printed, we can't stop. We have to keep banging at the door till they either hear us or give up their foolishness. I know it frustrates people to not being recognized for their efforts, but we are dealing with people that rather see us dead than admit they were wrong.

[denverd0n]

I used to be the editor of a letters column in a magazine, so I have some experience with this.

First and foremost, BE BRIEF!!! Most of the letters that I got were WAY too long! If the newspaper publishes a guideline for letter length take that as an ABSOLUTE maximum! Shorter is ALWAYS better and will ALWAYS make your letter more likely to be printed. If the newspaper doesn't print a guideline I would suggest no more than 200 words.

I know, you're thinking, but I have a lot that I need to say! No you don't. I'm sorry, but if you try to say all that your letter will just go into the circular file and then all of your points get lost. Pick your one most important point, make it well, make it briefly, and then leave out everything else!

This is the single, most important point about getting letters published!

Second, keep it clean. You would be amazed at how many letters I got that included outright profanities or vaguely obscene expletives. These letters always went immediately into the trash. I suppose the writers used profanities because they wanted to make their points strongly. In the end they only prevented their points from being made at all.

Third, check and double check for proper spelling and grammar. If you don't then the editor has to fix those errors and, frankly, that's just too much effort. Instead the letter will get tossed. Worse yet, if the editor doesn't agree with your opinion he might just print your letter as it is and you come off sounding like an illiterate boob. Believe me, that is NOT going to help your cause!

The majority of letters that get rejected are NOT rejected because the paper is being partisan. They are rejected for the reasons above. I really don't wish to offend you, Miggy, but your letter contains grammatical errors, run on sentences, and is just too long. You make good points, but I wouldn't print your letter either.

Here is a suggested revision...

Surprising nobody, the Miami Herald blames the Virginia Tech Massacre on the NRA. The Miami Herald, among others, celebrated the concept of a Gun Free Zone as a "sensible method" to keep people safe. Unfortunately, the tragic event at Virginia Tech proved the concept deadly wrong.

The NRA warned that a Gun Free Zone would create a target-rich environment for any criminal or deranged individual. They were ignored by those intent on selling people a false sense of security.

The NRA and law abiding gun owners are not to blame for the Virginia Tech massacre. Instead, blame those who supported Gun Free Zones and assured us no one would violate these “safe” areas. Jose Varela, Arthur E. Teele, and Cho Seung-Hui proved otherwise.

That's about half as long as your letter, but makes the same point. Also, you put "sensible method" in quotes. Is this actually a direct quote from the Miami Herald? If it is not, it should not be in quotes.

Good luck to one and all working to get a letter to the editor in print.

[Miggy]

Quotes like in that instance, are used to denote sarcasm or irony which is used by the Herald editorial staff. But yes, they also mention "sensible" in their attacks to the 2A.

And the published letters twice as long as mine. In fact they have published letters of mine before but not for years.

The Herald just simply will not publish any letter that will not help their political viewpoint.

[limatunes]

Quotes like in that instance, are used to denote sarcasm or irony which is used by the Herald editorial staff. But yes, they also mention "sensible" in their attacks to the 2A.

And the published letters twice as long as mine. In fact they have published letters of mine before but not for years.

The Herald just simply will not publish any letter that will not help their political viewpoint.

Print your letter out en mass (at Kinkos or something) and put it beside every single news-stand in the area.

The problem I see in all of this is that we are distributing letters and talking to people who are already on our side. We are preaching to the choir. We need to get our positive and RESPECTFUL views into the hands of people who may be on the fence and into the hands of people who really CAN make a difference for us.

Get the word to people who need to hear it.

[p8riot]

I wrote the following letter to the Richmond Times-Dispatch (they edited it for brevity). It was published yesterday

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

The political left is going to make hay about the shootings at Virginia Tech, pushing for even more useless restrictions on lawful gun ownership.

Virginia Tech should allow students so licensed to carry their weapons on campus, which could have allowed someone to put a quick end to this tragedy — instead of disarming the victims, and providing the shooter with a safe, target-rich environment.

Equally at fault is the General Assembly. Last year, it had the opportunity to fix this, but HB 1572 died in committee. The bill would have banned universities from limiting or abridging the ability of a student with a valid concealed handgun permit from lawfully carrying a concealed handgun.

At the time, a Virginia Tech spokesman said, “The university community is appreciative of the General Assembly’s actions because this will help parents, students, faculty, and visitors feel safe on our campus.”

Tell that to the students who died.

Well, I received a letter at my home today from a Richmond criminal defense attorney (dated yesterday). The entire text of the letter is as follows:

Dear Mr. xxxxxx

I read your letter and must say that no world terrorist organization frightens me nearly as much as you do.

Sincerely,

xxxxxxxxxxx x xxxxxxx

The man is a high profile attorney in Richmond. He most recently defended (on a pro bono basis I might add) a pervert that murdered a 17 year old college freshman and left her body in a shallow grave in the woods in a nearby county.

I am glad that someone like him is afraid of me, considering the company he keeps. My question to you all, is should I reply to him or just let him stew?

[denverd0n]

Forget it. He's not worth the effort and you're not going to get through to him. At MOST you might want to respond that the feeling is mutual.

[falcon1]

"I read your letter and must say that no world terrorist organization frightens me nearly as much as you do."--Richmond criminal defense attorney to the "scum of the earth"

You probably shouldn't do so, but I'd be tempted to reply something along the lines of, "You'll be pleased to know, sir, that you do not frighten me."

Don't do it.

[Timmy Jimmy]

You scar him because you used facts not emotion.

[Timmy Jimmy]

Lima has it right by the way! We sit in here and talk to each other where we are safe from upsetting the other side. It just dawned on me that I have gotten most of the news on the whole VA Tech shooting from here. Some one will post a link and I buzz over to that link and Listen or read it.

I need to get out more!