"A gun for Christmas"

[ericire12]

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20081223/OPINION04/812230301

I was excited as I headed toward the bus stop. My dad was coming from downtown Denver on the 5:15 and he was bringing home "our" Christmas present. We had been saving our quarters, dimes and nickels so we could get a new .22 rifle. I could see my dad making his way past the other passengers with a Winchester .22 pump in his hand. It was beautiful. We were still saving for a proper case, so he was carrying it openly.
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As we walked up the block to our house, we talked to several neighbors as they admired our new rifle. We lived in a densely populated part of east Denver, so we had to wait until the next day to drive to the outskirts of town and shoot, but it was worth the wait. I still own and love that beautiful little gun.

What would happen today if my dad had gotten on an RTD bus in the middle of Denver with a rifle? I can only imagine how many SWAT teams would be involved.

Our attitudes toward firearms have changed through the years, and those changes are not making us safer. In fact, the opposite is true.

It is irresponsible that the faculty council at Colorado State University wants to ban individuals who legally carry concealed weapons from doing so on campus.

Don't they remember what happened at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs last year?

A nut case with a gun came into the building after shooting several people in the parking lot and could have easily murdered dozens more if an armed church member had not been able to shoot him first.

Those who obtain a concealed carry permit are subject to a background check and required to take a gun safety course.

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden and other law enforcement officials monitor those who have permits and will not hesitate to revoke one if the holder is not acting responsibly. There is little to fear from an armed law-abiding citizen and much to gain when they use their weapons to protect themselves, their families and even the rest of us.

Recently in India, where they have some of the strongest gun control laws in the world, a few dozen terrorists killed or wounded almost 500 people. By the time the commandos responded, the terrorists were holding hostages and had already done most of the killing.

No wonder Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."

It was illegal for the terrorists to have guns, but they just didn't want to follow the laws.

In case you wonder what bad guys think, consider this statement by Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Mafia hit man, "Gun control? It's the best thing you can do for crooks and gangsters. I want you to have nothing. If I'm a bad guy, I'm always gonna have a gun."

Many have been brainwashed, by those who want us to fear guns, into thinking that making laws against carrying (and even owning) guns will stop violence.

If laws made a difference to lawbreakers, there would be no crime - after all, it is against the law.