<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span>Comments below...</span></div><div><br></div> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial" size="2"> <hr size="1"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> "rhayes@frontier.com" <rhayes@frontier.com><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> "vision2020@moscow.com" <vision2020@moscow.com> <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Friday, March 22, 2013 10:15 AM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> [Vision2020] gun violence debate<br> </font> </div> <br>
<meta http-equiv="x-dns-prefetch-control" content="off"><div id="yiv589320396"><div><div style="color:#000;background-color:#fff;font-family:Courier New, courier, monaco, monospace, sans-serif;font-size:10pt;"><div><span style="font-style: italic;"><span id="yiv589320396misspell-0">"Ok</span>, now I tire of this gun debate. A hammer is not any near as deadly as a semi-automatic weapon. Sifting through the Second <span id="yiv589320396misspell-2"><span>Amendment</span></span> for a hint of a right to possess all manner of <span id="yiv589320396misspell-3"><span>weaponry</span></span> is <span id="yiv589320396misspell-4"><span>ridiculous</span></span> and frightening. God did not give us the Second <span id="yiv589320396misspell-6"><span>amendment</span></span>, nor did God design and give us guns. Gun manufacturers give us guns. And they want us to buy more guns. Yes, a gun in every drawer and a chicken in every pot.
"</span><br><br>The Constitution is the law of the land. This is the document that makes the U.S.; without it, the U.S. doesn't exist. If you want to know more about what was meant by certain phrasing in the document, you need to see what that phrasing meant at the time it was written, and to determine what the Framers intended when they wrote it. That doesn't seem unreasonable to me at all. You are right, as far as I'm aware God did not write the second amendment, the authors of the Constitution did and there is every reason to believe they meant for it to be a check on government power.<br></div><div> </div><div><span style="font-style: italic;">"People who want to own guns for <span id="yiv589320396misspell-7"><span>defense</span></span> live in fear. From whence does this fear
originate?</span></div><div><span style="font-style: italic;">From other people with guns!" </span><br><br>Do people that carry a spare tire in their trunk live in fear? Maybe they do. Fear of being stranded on the roadside, without cellular service, with a flat tire and no way to get it fixed without walking for miles. I fear a lot things, and take steps to protect myself. I fear dying of exposure in the winter cold, so I own a house that I can heat in the winter time. I fear not having access to food and water, so I work for a living so I can pay for them. I fear that someone may want to walk away with my old tube television I have yet to upgrade, so I lock my doors when I leave the house. I fear someone breaking in and (through fear, misidentification of a threat, or some other reason) deciding that I am a danger to them. So I keep a weapon handy when I sleep.<br></div><div> </div><div><span
style="font-style: italic;">"We have a gun violence <span id="yiv589320396misspell-8"><span>problem</span></span> the U.S.. no one can deny that. The solution I often hear is to own more guns.</span></div><div><span style="font-style: italic;">This creates more fear and a need for more, and more deadly guns to defend ourselves. Kind of like a national internal arms race."</span><br><br>Why do you say that we have a "gun violence problem"? Isn't that really just a "violence problem"?<br></div><div> </div><div><span style="font-style: italic;">"People who are afraid to live in a civil society without arming themselves with weapons of mass destruction are cowards.</span></div><div><span style="font-style: italic;">I am sorry to be so blunt, but I, and a vast majority of my fellow citizens, want to demonstrate the courage needed to deal with the violence in society in a logical, civil manner.
Let's engage this discussion now. Enough children and citizens have died."</span><br><br>I sincerely hope that that works out for you. You yourself say that we have a "gun violence problem", so you are being very brave ignoring it completely. If the gods are kind, then that won't ever turn around and bite you on the ass. I'm more pragmatic than that, and choose to take steps to even the odds should the gods wish to exercise their sense of humor.<br><br>Paul<br></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div></div></div></div><meta http-equiv="x-dns-prefetch-control" content="on"><br>=======================================================<br> List services made available by First Step Internet,<br> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br> <a href="http://www.fsr.net/"
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