Mr. President,
As a student who was shot and wounded during the Columbine massacre, I have a few thoughts on the current gun debate. In regards to your gun control initiatives.
Universal Background Checks
First, a universal background check will have many devastating effects. It will arguably have the opposite impact of what you propose. If adopted, criminals will know that they can not pass a background check legally, so they will resort to other avenues. With the conditions being set by this initiative, it will create a large black market for weapons and will support more criminal activity and funnel additional money into the hands of thugs, criminals, and people who will do harm to American citizens.
Second, universal background checks will create a huge bureaucracy that will cost an enormous amount of tax payers dollars and will straddle us with more debt. We cannot afford it now, let alone create another function of government that will have a huge monthly bill attached to it.
Third, is a universal background check system possible without universal gun registration? If so, please define it for us. Universal registration can easily be used for universal confiscation. I am not at all implying that you, sir, would try such a measure, but we do need to think about our actions through the lens of time.
It is not impossible to think that a tyrant, to the likes of Mao, Castro, Che, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and others, could possibly rise to power in America. It could be five, ten, twenty, or one hundred years from now — but future generations have the natural right to protect themselves from tyrannical government just as much as we currently do. It is safe to assume that this liberty that our forefathers secured has been a thorn in the side of would-be tyrants ever since the Second Amendment was adopted.
Ban on Military-Style Assault Weapons
The evidence is very clear pertaining to the inadequacies of the assault weapons ban. It had little to no effect when it was in place from 1994 until 2004. It was during this time that I personally witnessed two fellow students murder twelve of my classmates and one teacher. The assault weapons ban did not deter these two murderers, nor did the other thirty-something laws that they broke.
Gun ownership is at an all time high. And although tragedies like Columbine and Newtown are exploited by ideologues and special-interest lobbying groups, crime is at an all time low. The people have spoken. Gun store shelves have been emptied. Gun shows are breaking attendance records. Gun manufacturers are sold out and back ordered. Shortages on ammo and firearms are countrywide. The American people have spoken and are telling you that our Second Amendment shall not be infringed.
10-Round Limit for Magazines
Virginia Tech was the site of the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. Seung-Hui Cho used two of the smallest caliber hand guns manufactured and a handful of ten round magazines. There are no substantial facts that prove that limited magazines would make any difference at all.
Second, this is just another law that endangers law-abiding citizens. I’ve heard you ask, “why does someone need 30 bullets to kill a deer?”
Let me ask you this: Why would you prefer criminals to have the ability to out-gun law-abiding citizens? Under this policy, criminals will still have their 30-round magazines, but the average American will not. Whose side are you on?
Lastly, when did they government get into the business of regulating “needs?” This is yet another example of government overreaching and straying from its intended purpose.
Selling to Criminals
Mr. President, these are your words: “And finally, Congress needs to help, rather than hinder, law enforcement as it does its job. We should get tougher on people who buy guns with the express purpose of turning around and selling them to criminals. And we should severely punish anybody who helps them do this.”
Why don’t we start with Eric Holder and thoroughly investigate the Fast and Furious program?
Furthermore, the vast majority of these mass murderers bought their weapons legally and jumped through all the hoops — because they were determined to murder. Adding more hoops and red tape will not stop these types of people. It doesn’t now — so what makes you think it will in the future? Criminals who cannot buy guns legally just resort to the black market.
Criminals and murderers will always find a way.
Critical Examination
Mr. President, in theory, your initiatives and proposals sound warm and fuzzy — but in reality they are far from what we need. Your initiatives seem to punish law-abiding American citizens and enable the murderers, thugs, and other lowlifes who wish to do harm to others.
Let me be clear: These ideas are the worst possible initiatives if you seriously care about saving lives and also upholding your oath of office. There is no dictate, law, or regulation that will stop bad things from happening — and you know that. Yet you continue to push the rhetoric. Why?
You said, “If we can save just one person it is worth it.” Well here are a few ideas that will save more that one individual:
First, forget all of your current initiatives and 23 purposed executive orders. They will do nothing more than impede law-abiding citizens and breach the intent of the Constitution. Each initiative steals freedom, grants more power to an already-overreaching government, and empowers and enables criminals to run amok.
Second, press Congress to repeal the “Gun Free Zone Act.” Don’t allow America’s teachers and students to be endangered one-day more. These parents and teachers have the natural right to defend themselves and not be looked at as criminals. There is no reason teachers must disarm themselves to perform their jobs. There is also no reason a parent or volunteer should be disarmed when they cross the school line.
This is your chance to correct history and restore liberty. This simple act of restoring freedom will deter would-be murderers and for those who try, they will be met with resistance.
Mr. President, do the right thing, restore freedom, and save lives. Show the American people that you stand with them and not with thugs and criminals.
Respectfully,
Severely Concerned Citizen, Evan M. Todd
[h/t theblaze.com]
* slow-clap *
Well said, and well-reasoned, IMO, and it stands the test of time (some or all of it being written over a year ago).
And they do not care one bit. This is a situation in which useful idiots are extremely important. The collectivists don’t necessarily want weapons banned entirely, they just want to prevent the “others” from obtaining them. You see, inherent to the collectivist logic is the fact that the individual can be sacrificed, and in fact should be, for the greater good of the “community.” The powerful people find these silly mothers in need of action very useful to their propaganda, but when the time would come, they would discard them with ease. These people have an agenda, and it does not involve our best interests.
Could not agree more. Simple and to the point. The man went through the fire and came out an American hero and patriot.
Well done Mr. Todd.
-Craig
FTW. This is awesome and well written. I especially liked the part about
“Why don’t we start with Eric Holder and thoroughly investigate the Fast and Furious program?”
10/10.
Too bad the best he’ll get out of O-Bomb-a is a “Thanks for your opinion, but big brother knows better than you.”
Obama admin will dismiss this as the words of a man obviously deluded and suffering mental issues from the trauma of Columbine, effects still lingering after all these years. Just more proof that something needs to be done.
My thoughts as well. He will be remotely diagnosed as having PTSD. Kind of like how the guys in the deserters unite are vilified for giving eye witness accounts of what happened.
Excellent right-up. However, I feel it will fall on deaf ears.
It might not if we could get every gun owner in America to send the same or similar to the WH and every one of our representatives in Congress.
But then I awoke from my dream…
I fully, totally, and completely agree with your post. Nicely done!
However, appeal to reason doesn’t work with Obama. He’s of the “immorally flexible” kind of politician. He lies and obfuscates, all in an effort to control…everything.
“These ideas are the worst possible initiatives if you seriously care about saving lives and also upholding your oath of office.”
He doesn’t care about saving lives, and he doesn’t care about upholding his oath of office. He has demonstrated this over and over again. Worst of all, saying what you’ve said won’t embarrass him, or prompt him to change course. Obama is an idealogical tyrant, so logic and appeal to reason are lost on him.
Hopefully, your post can help persuade some fence-sitters.
This is a well-reasoned and stated argument, so, of course, it will be ignored. Maybe we should flood Washington D.C. with copies of this letter, if for no other reason than to send a clear message to Obama and Congress what we think and where we stand.
Leaflet airdrop? Perhaps there are some PDU-5Bs about for dispensing? 🙂
You are not alone Mr. Todd.
bravo, but guess who is gonna get audited now. . . . .
This letter is great, but why is it being published here now? It was written more than a year ago
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/02/20/columbine-survivor-pens-bold-open-letter-to-obama-rejecting-gun-control-whose-side-are-you-on/
Some things are worth repeating.
I can only hope this gains momentum before it’s too late.
It’s really to bad that ALL our elected government officials don’t have half the mind set and common sense of this young man. This Country would be in far better state and Our Freedoms Secured By, The Bill of Rights would actually mean something to Them. It would be interesting to see what Obummers reply to this letter will be! I’m sure also it will zero effect on his thought process, which is truly sad.
Yet if some half-tard wrote him a letter saying “I saw a gun on TV and it scared me. We need to do SOMETHING BLARRRGHHHH!!!!” He’d hold a press conference to reassure all the half-tards he’s trying to do SOMETHING.
Bateman.
+1,000,000
From a man who was in the Arena, live the terror, and the memory burned into the corner of his brain.
Parents, police, legislators, politicians, school superintendents, commentators, citizens don’t hear him…listen to him…
“Your initiatives
seem topunish law-abiding American citizens and enable the murderers, thugs, and other lowlifes who wish to do harm to others.”Fixed that for you. Your realization is correct and now you know the real agenda of Our Great Leader and his minions.
Dear Mr. President,
Please be a good person…
A real good letter, damned shame it will fall on deaf ears. Sad as it is, this will be put down a the ravings of a man turned insane by the horror of GUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNS! shooting up his school.
Give him the P320.
It wasn’t written for the contest, it was written in response to the real world, about a year and a half ago.
That may be true, but I gotta agree with Kevin on this.
The Man doesn’t care about criminals or children – neither vote, after all. Plus they’re demographically small groups. Government’s nature is to grow and control, each perpetuating the other. Government wishes to control the largest group of Americans possible, namely the law-abiding. They do that through arduous legislation and executive fiat. Crimes and their victims are merely convenient props that government uses to its own ends.
That letter went straight into the presidential round file !! Nice try though !!
I told you this once before, but your comments are going to moderation because you insist in dropping a f-bomb in your fake email address. I don’t care if you spoof the email, but I’m about done fishing your comments out of the trash. It’s up to you to fix this problem.
We need well-spoken rational people like him as spokesmen for our rights.
“Whose side are you on?”
I think he deserves to know, but I don’t have the heart to tell him.
I think he knows, just like we all know.
That was one of them there rhetorical questions.
Every now and then, you see something out of this generation that makes you think that 10% or more of them saw through the bull that they were fed in high school, and that they are actually better advocates for freedom than those of us raised in the old school.
Kind of like some immigrants from communist countries are the best advocates of freedom–they lived with the insanity.
Well, I agree that those that come from insane places of tyranny could be good advocates for freedom. They know the alternative to freedom much too well and they have seen how easy freedom can be lost.
Nonetheless, it is getting harder and harder for such people to get there, in US, and support freedom.
It’s kind’a like gun control: the decent people are the ones affected.
We have a saying here: “A barrier stops only the ox. The little dogs pass under it, the big dogs pass over it.”
Spot on, sir!
Everyone should print out this letter and mail it to the White House. Maybe a few thousand copies of the same letter and someone will pay attention.
FINALLY!!! Unfortunately…Big sister of the NSA, and the others will disagree. All we can do is protest and complain as loud as we can. It will still boil down to the idiots that vote in congress, and the senate. Hopefully, this letter of pure awesomeness reaches someone in capital hill, that not only can read, but think as well. I know..Im asking for a miracle.
Who’s side is he on? It ain’t MINE. The whole world going up in flames & Barry has a photo op in front of a helicopter. Sigh. Keep your powder dry.
Awesome
Thank you, Mr Todd, nicely done.
Well done, Mr Todd. Thank you for yor courage and conviction.
Please have all your tax records in order for you next audit.
Well written Mr. Todd. Excellent analysis and well written points.
That said, I can already predict Obama’s response should he actually respond
“blah!, blah!, blah!, blah! I can’t hear you! My ideas trump your rights and we believe that raw emotions make better laws than logic such as yours” He will say something to that effect without those words of course.
Following mid-terms, we will see Obama and Holder skirt the laws to put their will upon gun owners. He will try to save his legacy with his base using the EPA and the ATF.
As a Canadian already subjected to background checks and ridiculously unreasonable firearms laws I can tell you that they do not stop shootings. Criminals don’t care about gun laws or any other laws for that matter. All gun laws do it put unreasonable burdens on the law abiding and pave the way for those who thumb their noses at laws. They work as well as it did to make drugs illegal, they went away, right?
Bravo Mr Todd.
Why did I get moderated, Bc I pointed out Che wasn’t a tyrant? Or was it I mentioned that his argument on how background checks would create more of a black market than there already is bs. Ppl post very suggestive comments on here yet mine gets deleted. Talk about a tyrant.
Im sorry for your misfortune back at Columbine. I truly am. But, I disagree with you. Automatic and semi-automatic weapons need to be banned. Period. There is no need for them. If we get attacked by another country – nukes will decide the outcome – not AR-15’s or AK-47s. Owning unlimited ammo is foolish. Why? To protect your home? 4,000 rounds necessary? No. MOre detailed background checks ARE vital – mental health must work with gun sales – etc.
Hey Magicman,
Let’s all get rid of automobiles and go back to driving horse and buggies or maybe bicycles. Then any type of accident or misuse of an automobile will be eliminated, thus making any trip a safe and uneventful journey.
For your personal edification though, Automatic weapons are not commonly available at your average sporting store. And if one finds a truly automatic weapon it is regulated under stricter background checks along with additional taxes/ fees. compared to the average rifle and shotgun b/g checks and fees.
Just a thought for you. Maybe you would be more comfortable living in Australia or possibly -England.
I understand they might have the restrictive security you might desire.
best wishes,
+1000
Even Holder should recognize well thought reasoning. Sadly the Gov’t
Will not.
There is a Reynolds High School ( Oregon shooting this week) teacher named Seth Needler, making the NEWS Stations this week about his fear during the event and that MORE GUN Control is needed.
Mr. Todd’s Message as a victim (of Columbine) supporting gun rights needs to get out to the mass media. (Even if originally written over a year ago.) Countering Anti- gun voices like Mr. Needler’s!
Maybe even get Mr. Todd’s posted on mr. needler’s facebook comments as well as any other places on facebook or elsewhere.
What people miss is that most of these shootings are caused by people under the age of 25 ( I’m being broad in the age, as under 20yrs is probably more to the point) background checks DON”T APPLY! Along with the Anti’s other regulations and criteria for gun control of law abiding citizens.
What needs to be asked is WHY??? Why are children in effect living the equivalent of LIVE WARGAMES . As a kid of the 70’s (even with the occasional
encounter with schoolyard bullies) I never could have thought about such violent actions.
Though media and game manufacturers will dispute it, I suspect it DOES have something to do with the exposure and heavy participation in violent video games and TV shows, at ages WAY TOO YOUNG, that causes actions to transcend from a fantasy world into reality.
I seem to recall Most, if not all of the suspects of shootings ( at least since Columbine) seem to have had an UNREASONABLE fixation on violent video games.
Here are links to a few of the write-ups about Mr. Seth Needlers desires and movement against firearms he is trying to start.
Oregon school shooting: Reynolds teacher says shooting should prompt tighter gun control
http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2014/06/oregon_school_shooting_reynold_3.html
Reynolds teacher: Citizens need to overcome power of NRA lobbyists
http://www.krem.com/news/263080831.html
Mr, Needler’s facebook post
ttps://www.facebook.com/seth.needler/posts/10152305971767933
After an any shooting event, there always seems to be one Gun Control voice that gets pushed by the MEDIA, as the (seemingly) rational voice of all the masses.
There needs to be rational discussion about solving the cause of the mindset that prompts school (and other) shooting events.
Again,
Mr. Todd’s Message as a victim (of Columbine) supporting gun rights needs to get out to the mass media.
Maybe even get it posted on mr. needler’s facebook comments as well as any other places facebook or elsewhere.
Right on…but posted here it’s just singing to the choir. Let’s see it on MSNBC, CNN…you know, the places that will never critique it…
I don’t do “Fbook”
I hope that the CHOIR will take and spread Mr. Todds letter wherever possible,
along with challenging the exposure of children/ youth- to violent media and gaming……..
Anywhere one sees / reads – the Anti’s spewing their rhetoric of garbage, lies and deception.
The Virginia Tech shooter didn’t use two of the smallest calibers, and didn’t only use ten round magazines. He used both a .22 and 9 mm, and used ten and fifteen round magazines. Also, we have background checks now without gun registration. Why would the author think it isn’t possible to expand background checks without also having registration? Also, the ammo shortages are/were due to hoarding fueled by paranoia.
His argument against UBCs is that making it more difficult for criminals to get firearms will create a black market for firearms?
Back to the point of the ones who want more gun control , it is not basically that they want to stop criminals and the mentally ill from killing anyone especially the children , the fact is they don’t give a rats butt about anyone being killed as this helps their agenda of trying to take all firearms , so that their leftist socialist agenda can be invoked , they want total control of everything and everyone , and the leader of this agenda is the dictator and chief , remember folks he was a member of the American Communist Party in the 1990s , a leopard does not change it’s spots , one of the main goals of the Communists is to disarm the citizens so there is no recourse to their beliefs . As for the rest of this young mans open letter I harrold him for his honesty and beliefs , he has not let MSM or any other agendas swayed his beliefs , to this I salute him . Be prepared and ready . Keep your powder dry .
First of all, thank you Todd for an excellent letter. Second, to Magicman, wow you really don’t get it. “Automatic and semi-automatic weapons need to be banned. Period.” Let’s look at that statement for a moment. Auto and semi-auto weapons? What would be left for any law abiding citizen to use for protection. Single shot firearms?? Oh, yes, Mr. Attacker, can you wait a minute while I put in another round? Need I say more? And you say you want them banned; easy word to use but what does it really mean? Banned by whom and how? Well, the government must legislate it and the authorities must enforce it. And we all know how the criminals respect the government and obey the authorities. Your next statement clearly shows that you have no idea what the 2nd amendment supporters believe. It’s not a nuclear attack from another country we fear. The 2nd amendment is a right that, when fully exercised, ensures that our own government will not overstep it’s bounds and attack our constitutional rights, collectively or singly. Go back and educate yourself. Read some history and please actually learn from it instead of spouting baseless opinions. The facts are clear and the stats are in black and white. Gun laws, bans, registration, and all the “progressive” initiatives that make libs feel warm inside do NOT stop crimes of any kind. They serve one purpose; they make every citizen in this country less safe. It’s so unsurprising that people of your opinion think it’s perfectly ok for you to dictate to me what my “needs” are. To me, it’s your opinion that is foolish, not the 4000 rounds in my gun safe. Go live your life and stop telling me what my rights are and are not. I have the constitution to tell me those things. I don’t tell you how to live or what you “need” because among the rights I am afforded by the constitution, telling another person how to live is NOT one of them.
And to T, who posted a valuable correction about the VA Tech shooting calibers used, see the above…
When the next nutjob decides to shoot up some school or movie theater, let’s hope there is a law abiding gun owner there to save the lives that may have been lost if the politicians and liberals were to get their way.
Cheers!!
Well written piece. This man has been on the receiving end of a gun fight and realizes that sitting ducks will all get shot! Making schools a gun-free zone just gives the murderers more confidence!
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