Editor:
I am 82 ½ now. I was raised on a ranch south of Kimball, S.D. We rode horseback 2 ½ miles to school. I have shot and carried guns since I was eight years old. We sometimes carried .22 rifles on our horse to school. My dad always had two or three loaded guns in our home and he always said, "don't point a gun at something unless you plan on killing it."
We carried a loaded gun to school to bring home some meat for our supper. Sometimes it was rabbit, snakes, pheasant or squirrels. Anything that was edible we would kill and skin it, put it in newspaper, and after school we would take it home to our mom and she was very happy for the meat.
What is a gun? It is a tool, like any tool, which, if not properly used, may hurt or kill you. Your vehicle is a tool; no one is allowed to jump behind the wheel if not trained. A skill saw is a tool; a skill saw can kill also.
Guns were not created to kill people! They were created to make it easier and more reliable for us to get our food on the table for our families, as in the 1930s.
Take a look at Chicago, where all guns are against the law to have one in the city. In 2012, Chicago had over 500 people shot and killed.
They say more people get killed by knives than with guns!
Think about this very slowly.
Yours truly,
Vaun H. Boyd
Custer, S.D.
P.S. Thank you for your newspaper. My daughter-in-law mails it to me.
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