VOTING RIGHTS versus 2ND AMENDMENT RIGHTS
The Raleigh News and Observer in NC's capitol city posted two letters on gun violence today. One is from me written in response to an editorial about gun safety last Sunday, June 7. The other is from a former Duke University professor by the name of David Warren of Chapel Hill, NC.
from StarGazerNC:
Regarding Ned Barnett’s June 7 column “Code orange for moms vs. guns”: I once talked about the issue of gun violence with Ellie Kinnaird, a former state senator from Chapel Hill. I never saw her back off from a fight, but she admitted that gun control was one issue she could not have any success with. Nor could any others in the N.C. General Assembly – not then or now.
You cannot reason with the cowboy wannabes, so I just have to laugh at their over-the-top attacks. I only wish we could have a serious exchange with the gun lobby.
I am not trying to keep guns from any law-abiding citizens, but I do think promoting gun safety has its merits, and it does not get enough attention these days. Thanks for the column.
Read more here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/....
Here is the second one from David Warren, a professional observer of this issue:
Arthur R. Kamm’s June 10 Point of View “The benefits vs. risk rule for guns” about guns posing unregulated risks was timely and challenging. Why haven’t we done the risk-benefit analysis on guns as we have done in so many other areas of commerce, especially pharmaceuticals, pollution and foods?
He suggests the unfortunate paucity of data on shootings prevents public policy research and, therefore, retards adoption of regulations. But even stronger is the unexplained reluctance to translate even what we know about the connection between “more guns equals more deaths” into effective firearms safety legislation.
Also puzzling is that a vast majority of our residents favor sensible gun regulation but their legislative representatives tend to act against the interests of their own constituents, citing sanctimoniously “the right to bear arms.”
Has the Second Amendment become a religious cult? If so, maybe we should raise the caution of separating church and state.
DAVID WARREN
Read more here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/...