Let's agree to disagree

To the Editor:

I read the interview of L.T. Clark in your article, "NRA member differs with organization."

I would first like to say that I know Mr. Clark and respect his wisdom and well-considered opinions.

However, I must respectfully disagree with his position on the NRA, the Second Amendment and firearm ownership.

Nobody wants to see innocent people killed.

It is almost beyond understanding that a young person would shoot and kill other young people in cold blood.

There is a natural urge to do whatever it takes to put this to an end.

The problem is the heart, mind and soul of the young person committing these murders.

It is not the weapon.

Ignoring the Second Amendment and banning certain weapons won't solve the problem.

The Second Amendment was ratified by the states and added to the Constitution to permit the people to prevent or respond to tyranny; tyranny by local thugs, those in political power and even foreign enemies.

The best explanation of this was contained in a report on the Second Amendment to the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate in 1982.

The right to keep and bear arms comes from English Common Law.

Originally, every English household was required to have at least one longbow and present it to the local sheriff on demand to prove that they were properly armed.

Archery was officially encouraged and other sports, like golf, were banned to make sure that every Englishman was proficient with the most effective rapid fire weapon of the day.

After Henry VIII left the Catholic Church and ordered the people of his nation convert with him, he looted and burned the churches and monasteries that did not convert.

Having thus made significant enemies, he assumed dictatorial powers.

On one particular occasion, King Henry VIII proclaimed a new law that his subjects would greatly resent.

An advisor to the king reminded him that he had 10,000 loyal soldiers in and about the palace.

However, there were hundreds of thousands of angry Englishmen out there with longbows.

Upon reflection, the King rescinded his decree.

In recent history, both Imperial Japan and the Soviet Union concluded that it would be impossible to invade the United States because most citizens owned personal firearms.

Returning veterans of World War II used their arms to put down the tyrants who ran McMinn County, Tennessee, in what has been called "The Battle of Athens."

In Switzerland, every household is required to have at least one machine gun.

Switzerland, Europe's most peaceful nation, has virtually no standing army.

Instead, the government issues its citizens machine guns to keep in their homes.

Note their ultra low crime rate and the fact that they were the only country in Europe not invaded during either the first or second World War.

No right is without restriction whether it be free speech, marriage or the right to keep and bear arms.

This is evidenced by the fact that machine guns and other destructive devices have been severely restricted and regulated since 1934.

The ironic truth is that the M16, and by extension, the AR15, were designed to wound, not kill.

That is why they shoot a .22 caliber bullet rather than the .30 caliber, which has been used since the Spanish-American War.

The Defense Department determined that a wounded soldier took three to five soldiers off the battlefield since two to four of his buddies would stop and help him.

When a soldier is killed, his buddies pause, only briefly, before continuing the fight.

The previous main battle rifle, the .30-06 caliber M1 Garand, was designed to kill, not wound.

It is not considered an "assault weapon," even though its operating mechanism is the grand-daddy to the mechanism in the AR15.

The Mini 14 fires the exact same bullet as the AR15, just as fast, with similar high capacity magazines, but looks similar to the Garand and thus is not considered an "assault weapon."

Do you remember Lee Harvey Oswald, James Earl Ray and Charles Witman?

These men killed, even committed mass murder, with bolt action rifles.

Firearms have been around since at least the early 1400s, and are shockingly easy to make.

You can make an AK-47 with a sheet metal break-press and a lathe.

You can make an M2 .50 caliber machine gun with a hand operated lathe and mill.

High capacity magazines can be made in minutes with nothing more than sheet metal and a break press.

Did you know that there are several legal "ma and pa" type manufacturers of machine guns here in the Wabash Valley?

It is not the weapon, but the morality of the person who holds it.

You can never effectively control access to weapons.

Even if you could, there are numerous formulas for explosives that can be made from household products.

Even the weapon of mass destruction, Ricin nerve gas, is made from the humble castor bean.

Napalm is nothing more than gasoline mixed with Styrofoam.

Imagine someone spraying flaming Napalm from a balloon in a crowded movie theater.

Unfortunately, evil is only limited by creativity and determination.

If Mr. Clark believes that restricting or eliminating certain semi-automatic rifles will save our children, he is entitled to his opinion.

If he believes that the NRA is wrong for protecting our rights, which once surrendered are never returned, he is entitled to his opinion.

But a person who wants to kill will surely find a way.

I intend to have the means to stop him.

Charles Hear,

Brazil