To the editor:

I am utterly appalled by your recent editorial “Gun control should be a state decision,” which is self-explanatory, but then goes on to support elements of a federal bill introduced by Bobby Rush (D) Illinois. For those who are unfamiliar with Mr. Rush, he represents part of Chicago that is undeniably the most corrupt city in America. His GOA (Gun Owners of America) score is F-, meaning he is not only hostile to guns being owned by law abiding Americans, but he also supports the disarming of Americans through legislation such as HR 45.

What really disturbed me about your editorial is that you advocate the registration of certain guns. Just like the Democratic Party, you seek to split gun owners into two groups, hunters and sportsmen, and everyone else. The Democrats did this as part of their divide and conquer strategy. If the editors had done their homework they would have found out that a) registration does not help the police solve crimes in states that do require registration, and b) gun registration is always a precursor to gun confiscation. Nothing in the Second Amendment indicates it is for hunters and sportsmen. So why selectively require registration of certain firearms? To begin with, automatic weapons are already highly regulated by the federal government. As for .50-caliber weapons, the Barrett .50 caliber rifles start at $4,000 and top out at almost $10,000. Hardly the weapon of choice for a criminal. Weapons with sawed off barrels are going to be possessed by criminals who could care less about registering weapons they aren’t even allowed to own or possess. And no rational, law-abiding gun owner is going to take a hack saw to one of their expensive rifles or shotguns. There simply is no reason to. Which leaves us hand guns. My guess is that the other three types of firearms were simply a smokescreen for pistols, which are the real target of the anti-gun crowd.

I would urge the editors to re-examine their position after looking at the facts. A good place to start is www.gunfacts.info. All firearms, including pistols, have their place in our society. But gun registration doesn’t. It starts us down that slippery slope and would eventually cost us our freedom and our safety.  

Erik Heiker