DMN article 040409

[jimlongley]

An article titled "An American nightmare" was published in the DMN this morning, herewith my answer:

To the Editor, Dallas Morning News,
I don't know how this becomes an uniquely "American nightmare", recent history has featured massacres in other countries too.

Once again we are presented with a tragic spectacle generated, in part, by the establishment of a “gun free zone.” In NY State it is necessary to have a Pistol Permit to even own a handgun, and there is a hierarchy of permits from merely having the state’s permission to own a handgun to being able to carry one concealed. The shooter here was able to carry out his massacre with confidence that an armed citizen would not disrupt his plan.

As an unwilling resident of that state for many years, due to my parents’ move there when I was an infant and unable to insist on staying in Texas, I can testify that obtaining a permit to even just own a handgun, much less carry one for any of several purposes, can be viewed as virtually impossible. I was never able to obtain one despite honorable service as a Gunner’s Mate in the US Navy, years of service to my community as a volunteer fireman, Red Cross volunteer, and a blemish free record as a citizen without even a speeding ticket to my name, yet here an immigrant barely able to speak English has one.

With these points in mind, and knowing the investigative process that one has to go through to get such a permit, I have to wonder what kind of political pull Jiverly Wong had to enable him to get a permit in the oppressive atmosphere of NY State gun ownership.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly Handgun Control Incorporated), which casts itself as the final arbiter of “gun safety” in America, rates NY State as the sixth highest in its yearly evaluation of the relative safety of the states, how can they get this so wrong, or are they just plain wrong about gun control laws contributing in any way to the safety of the people?

Wong’s massacre shows planning and deadly intent, it’s unlikely that any gun control law would have stopped him, but just one armed citizen might have, the police certainly didn’t, and didn’t even try. A relatively new saying, in danger of becoming cliché, is: “When seconds count, the police are just minutes away.”

Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to stop experimenting with people’s lives and institute some really common sense gun control laws, such as “you control your gun or go to jail” instead of “we get to say whether it’s safe for you to have one.”

Jim Longley

[TreyTX]

Very nice reply. I'm assuming/hoping you sent it to the DMN?

If so, hopefully they have the journalistic integrity (cough) to print such a well thought out counter opinion.

[stevie_d_64]

Very nice reply. I'm assuming/hoping you sent it to the DMN?

If so, hopefully they have the journalistic integrity (cough) to print such a well thought out counter opinion.

Oh it was submitted alright...The question is whether we'll see it printed or not...

The DMN being a stalwart supporter of fair and balanced journalism...

[jimlongley]

Very nice reply. I'm assuming/hoping you sent it to the DMN?

If so, hopefully they have the journalistic integrity (cough) to print such a well thought out counter opinion.

Oh it was submitted alright...The question is whether we'll see it printed or not...

The DMN being a stalwart supporter of fair and balanced journalism...

It always surprises me to see what they do publish. Unfortunately I had a letter in less than a week ago, so this one is nlikely to make it, they have a policy against publishing the same person's letters too often. Last weeks letter was about an editorial on Judge Keller. The editorial stated that Keller closing her office at 5pm had lead to the "untimely death" of Michael Richards by blocking his chance to one more appeal. My letter basically said that the only thing "untimely" about Richards' death was that it was ten years too late, which was ten years more than he gave his victim and he didn't deserve any more appeals. They published it.

[Oldgringo]

Timely and apropos is your letter.

If the DMN won't print it under your name, e-mail it to me (or somebody) and see if you can get it printed under a pseuodonym. It's well written and deserves an audience.

[nitrogen]

It's got far more snark in in than I'd write in a LOE, but far less than is deserved. Well done and hopefully it gets published!

[bryang]

Great job, Jim, very well written and I certainly hope it will get published.

-geo

[ClarkLZeuss]

Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to stop experimenting with people’s lives and institute some really common sense gun control laws, such as “you control your gun or go to jail” instead of “we get to say whether it’s safe for you to have one.”

My favorite part.