mljdeckard
Member
Dear Mr. Obama,
I wish to congratulate you on your victory. Your campaign is standing evidence that anyone in this nation can do anything they want to.
I was not your supporter. Many of your views are not mine. However, our successes are intertwined, I certainly don't want you to fail. I consider it my duty as an American, a father, and a serviceman to not only support you, but encourage everyone I know to do the same.
My parents are school teachers who became college professors. We never had a lot of money. We're still far from rich. But I am in the process of having the military cover my law school. I believe that everyone should decide what it is they really want to do with their lives, make a plan, and carry it out, not letting anyone stop them.
You know that we Utahns are very conservative. We like to take care of ourselves, and regard help from the government, especially the federal government with a degree of suspicion. I'm not at all an economics expert. I know much about foreign affairs, but I wouldn't consider myself knowledgeable enough to presume to do your job from an armchair.
I am willing to listen and learn about your ideas for the nation and the future. However, there is one area on which I must implore you to reconsider. It is this issue which prevented me from supporting you or the democratic party. You are an intelligent man, I will pay you the compliment of being direct.
You have stated support for a new ban on "assault style" weapons. You have a voting record which reflects a view of private gun ownership which makes many of us nervous. I have been told, by men I trust, that you don't believe that people should be allowed to own guns at all. During your campaign, your speech softened a bit, assuring us that you aren't going to take our guns away, and that you support the rights of hunters.
What I, and many of my fellow gun owners wish you to understand, is that the right to keep and bear arms is as important as any other right, and indeed, the right to self-defense is a fundamental human right. When you support incremental and categorical restrictions on our arms or their manufacturers, we feel just as threatened as we would if you started putting restrictions on printing presses or who may or may not vote. Bearing arms is a right, not a privilige. We feel that this right is unambiguous, and we have recently welcomed a ruling from the Supreme Court of the United States which clarifies this right for everyone.
We feel that efforts to restrict gun ownership are based on emotional responses to terrible events. However, events perpetrated by criminals will happen regardless of any new or existing gun law. Gun owners are honest men and women who respect the law, even when we don't agree with it. Any objective study of gun ownership and crime shows that guns, including "assualt weapons", have no causal effect on crime.
In this nation, citizens bearing arms and taking responsibility for their own safety cause so much more good than harm, that the harm is difficult to measure at all. We would not burden the government with a new organization of any kind to take care of our safety. No ban on any category of firearm has ever made us safer. What me and my fellow gun owners ask, is that you not consider any new gun legislation at all. Of course we would prefer the repeal of many gun laws, but we're not fools either. We don't suffer illusions about where you stand, or even the likelihood that you will personally read this letter. We're not asking for a complete shift in policy. Just neutrality. Don't change anything.
You have arrived where you are by showing many people from both sides that you are willing to listen to them. Please, listen to us. All we ask is that you use your time, energy, and political influence where it WILL help us all. We have long memories, both for politicians who seek to restrict our rights, and those who support them. Many of my fellow gun owners are in a frenzy from fear about what you will do to our rights. I am not among them. I believed you when you said that you really are willing to earn the respect and support of those who didn't support you in the election. Please, prove me right. Proving me wrong would have long-term consequences for the entire nation. Once these rights are taken away, they are never again restored.
With the utmost sincerity and respect,
(mljdeckard)
Probably a lot more than will be counted by the letter openers, (another one against gun control, from Utah, hash mark,)but I had to get it all out anyway.
I wish to congratulate you on your victory. Your campaign is standing evidence that anyone in this nation can do anything they want to.
I was not your supporter. Many of your views are not mine. However, our successes are intertwined, I certainly don't want you to fail. I consider it my duty as an American, a father, and a serviceman to not only support you, but encourage everyone I know to do the same.
My parents are school teachers who became college professors. We never had a lot of money. We're still far from rich. But I am in the process of having the military cover my law school. I believe that everyone should decide what it is they really want to do with their lives, make a plan, and carry it out, not letting anyone stop them.
You know that we Utahns are very conservative. We like to take care of ourselves, and regard help from the government, especially the federal government with a degree of suspicion. I'm not at all an economics expert. I know much about foreign affairs, but I wouldn't consider myself knowledgeable enough to presume to do your job from an armchair.
I am willing to listen and learn about your ideas for the nation and the future. However, there is one area on which I must implore you to reconsider. It is this issue which prevented me from supporting you or the democratic party. You are an intelligent man, I will pay you the compliment of being direct.
You have stated support for a new ban on "assault style" weapons. You have a voting record which reflects a view of private gun ownership which makes many of us nervous. I have been told, by men I trust, that you don't believe that people should be allowed to own guns at all. During your campaign, your speech softened a bit, assuring us that you aren't going to take our guns away, and that you support the rights of hunters.
What I, and many of my fellow gun owners wish you to understand, is that the right to keep and bear arms is as important as any other right, and indeed, the right to self-defense is a fundamental human right. When you support incremental and categorical restrictions on our arms or their manufacturers, we feel just as threatened as we would if you started putting restrictions on printing presses or who may or may not vote. Bearing arms is a right, not a privilige. We feel that this right is unambiguous, and we have recently welcomed a ruling from the Supreme Court of the United States which clarifies this right for everyone.
We feel that efforts to restrict gun ownership are based on emotional responses to terrible events. However, events perpetrated by criminals will happen regardless of any new or existing gun law. Gun owners are honest men and women who respect the law, even when we don't agree with it. Any objective study of gun ownership and crime shows that guns, including "assualt weapons", have no causal effect on crime.
In this nation, citizens bearing arms and taking responsibility for their own safety cause so much more good than harm, that the harm is difficult to measure at all. We would not burden the government with a new organization of any kind to take care of our safety. No ban on any category of firearm has ever made us safer. What me and my fellow gun owners ask, is that you not consider any new gun legislation at all. Of course we would prefer the repeal of many gun laws, but we're not fools either. We don't suffer illusions about where you stand, or even the likelihood that you will personally read this letter. We're not asking for a complete shift in policy. Just neutrality. Don't change anything.
You have arrived where you are by showing many people from both sides that you are willing to listen to them. Please, listen to us. All we ask is that you use your time, energy, and political influence where it WILL help us all. We have long memories, both for politicians who seek to restrict our rights, and those who support them. Many of my fellow gun owners are in a frenzy from fear about what you will do to our rights. I am not among them. I believed you when you said that you really are willing to earn the respect and support of those who didn't support you in the election. Please, prove me right. Proving me wrong would have long-term consequences for the entire nation. Once these rights are taken away, they are never again restored.
With the utmost sincerity and respect,
(mljdeckard)
Probably a lot more than will be counted by the letter openers, (another one against gun control, from Utah, hash mark,)but I had to get it all out anyway.
