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To the editor:
This is in response to Michael Spahr's letter that was published on July 6. In his first paragraph Mr. Spahr states that the reason to be tested for a driver's license is "to make sure you know all the rules of the road."
Really, Mr. Spahr, so why not make sure that a person before they obtain a gun knows all the safety issues for owning that object that is only made to kill, are you actually afraid that people would fail that test? Are you afraid that no one would be able to get a gun due to failing that object? Don't answer because quite honestly I and I am sure many millions throughout the country are fed up with the tedious excuses provided by the gun community for them being scared of more gun safety being "forced" on to them ... oh horror of that happening (and yes that was me being sarcastic).
Now to his claim and reasoning behind the Second Amendment. In his letter he states about people learning history. That is so funny considering that he and other gun owners and gun lobby groups have been misinterpreting the Second Amendment. This misinterpretation has happened ever since the Reagan Era. maybe Mr. Spahr should take his own advice and read some history books that were written before the Reagan Era that actually give the real reason behind the Second Amendment.
In an article called "So you think you know the Second Amendment," Jeffrey Toobin stated. "The re-interpretation of the Second Amendment was an elaborate and brilliantly executed political operation, inside and outside of government."
In the same paragraph Mr. Spahr mentions that the Second Amendment is a "God given right." Really, Mr. Spahr, so the hand of God appeared from out of nowhere picked up a quill dipped it in ink and signed his name on bottom of the Bill of Rights ... and you Republicans call us Democrats delusional.
Now to his claim about us all being militia -- wrong Mr. Spahr. Under the Militia Act of 1904 (which ever since 1905 has been the law) the militia was disbanded and became the National Guard. Not everyone is in the National Guard like you claimed -- again that is just another debunked delusion that the Right has. But I do have to ask, Mr. Spahr, what National Guard Troop are you in? I mean you did make the claim that we are all the (now illegal) militia. Now to his claim of the reasons behind shootings.
How many times do those claims have to be debunked? Let's look at his reasons -- social and mental health issues and the lack of religion. The first school shooting in the U.S. happened on Nov. 2, 1853, in Louisville, Kentucky, when a student shot the schoolmaster for excessively punishing his brother the day before. There was no social media, and no mental illness issue and everyone went to church and read the Bible.
The first mass shooting was in 1949, Labor Day to be precise. This shooting happened when a man killed 13 people and wounded three more. So again, no social media, and everyone went to church, so plenty of religion. The reason given by the man was that his boyfriend (I know, something that conservatives hate -- same sex relationships) had not turned up for a planned date.
Let's get back to Mr. Spahr and his claim concerning mental illness. If it was "mental illness," why is it that every single time a budget comes out either state or federal the funds for mental health gets cut and the money taken from that is then provided to other things such as the military (an already over-budgeted arena)?
If it were a mental illness issue every time that a member of the law enforcement community or the military community shoots someone, using your logic, it could also be claimed that they had a mental illness issue. It is funny, though, other countries have the same issues concerning social media and media in general but they do not have the same issue with gun violence -- and we are talking about gun violence and nothing else.
The only thing that I would agree with you on is that we have a serious gun problem here in the states, a problem that has not risen in any other country. What we disagree on is why. The reason for this happening, and there are quite a few million in this country that have the same thought -- it is the ease at which guns can be obtained.
What I care about are kids being shot at school while trying to get an education, what I care about are people going to get groceries and being shot while doing that, what I care about are people watching a July 4 parade getting shot while watching, what I care about are people at a movie theater watching a movie but being shot while doing that. What I care about are all the people that are going about their everyday lives but having their lives cut short due to someone having a gun.
It seems that all you conservatives care about is an object that is only made to kill. I have yet to proven wrong.
George Fisher
Lewistown