To the Editor:
We have an automobile problem in this country and we have to get automobiles off the streets.
You might ask what in the world kind of crazy person would say that?
That statement is based on the recent letter to the editor regarding guns. The news media and a lot of Democrats say that we have a gun problem and we have to get guns out of the hands of everyone.
Well, I have guns in my house and have used them to provide food for myself, to protect crops in my fields, to protect my pets/livestock, etc. Guns have a purpose just like automobiles do. We cannot do without guns in our households any more than we can do without automobiles, drugs, knives, etc.
The guns are not the issue — the people behind the guns are the issue.
Most shootings, not all, but most mass killings and cop killings are done by people that do not have legal rights to possess a gun. If the judicial system would work as it should, many of those killings would never have happened.
Guns have been used by human beings to kill 43,163 people in the last year either by accident or on purpose. There are over 370 million guns in the United States.
People driving vehicles have killed 40,999 people in the last year either by accident or on purpose. Of those killed by automobiles; 10,511 of them were by drunk drivers.
Maybe we should get rid of alcohol as well.
There are over 283 million automobiles in the United States. So, if you do math — automobiles kill more people than guns do.
Drug overdoses take the lives of countless people every day but I would not do without drugs if I was having major pain or having surgery, etc.
These few items I have mentioned are not the problem. The people behind them are the problem.
We do not have a gun problem, a drug problem, an alcohol, or an automobile problem. We have a judicial system problem, a mental health problem and a human heart problem.
Making it harder on the law-abiding citizen to own guns, or automobiles or knives, and making it harder on the surgeons and pharmacists to obtain drugs is not the answer.
Buying back guns from me with my own tax dollars is a problem. Is the government then going to buy back my automobile and my kitchen knives and my medicines, etc.
I recently heard Kamala Harris brag that she would support buying back every gun for $500 a piece; and that she would support the government coming into every gun owner’s home — locked or unlocked — to determine if people where correctly storing their guns. After the guns are gone from the average citizen, and only the criminals are left with the guns, will people who are then left totally defenseless against both the criminals and the government finally wake up?
Stop just absorbing what is being pushed by politicians and the media.
Start to listen and actually hear what is being said. I will repeat myself: guns are not the problem any more than cars are the problem. Think and actually look at facts and figures before you just repeat jargon and rhetorical talking points.
Read for yourself and actually hear what direct politicians are saying and watch what they are doing. Please do the same before you vote in November. Read the amendments before you vote. Look at who is behind the amendments and don’t just listen to those writing the amendments. Listen to both sides and be informed before you go to the ballot box.
Annette Pfeiffer