WINNEMUCCA - I was reading the guest opinion "Who Appointed Sheriff Kilgore "King?" (Humboldt Sun, Jan. 22-24). I felt I needed to respond because I support Sheriff Kilgore!
As a resident of Humboldt County, I certainly believe he has a responsibility to look out for the residents of Humboldt County, and our personal rights. The Second Amendment needs three-quarters of the Congress and three-fourths of the states to change it. If the federal government believes it can sidestep this requirement, then we need sheriffs like Sheriff Kilgore.
I always enjoy people like the author of the opinion piece who says that assault weapons should be banned. What is an assault weapon? The most common response is it looks like a military weapon. The weapons we buy are no more military than a slingshot. There are pellet guns, paint ball guns, and water guns that look like military weapons, so by that definition they are assault weapons.
The next thing I hear is how powerful these weapons are; wrong, most are not powerful at all. Next the multi-round clip - oh, my God, this is the most stupid thing. If there is no one to shoot back, I just reload or bring more guns.
The people who commit these crimes do not care about the law. Do you really believe that if you pass these laws you will save a single life? If you do, you should have your head examined. These type of people have already decided to break the law by killing people and as many as they can. Do you really believe they care what the gun laws are? I will help - no they don't. We can't even stop drugs in this country. Do you really believe we can stop criminals from getting guns? On top of that there are so many ways to have a mass killing; if you are this type of person, you don't care how you do it or what laws you have to break. There's nothing you said here that will work. Columbine happened during the last ban. Chicago has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation and leads the nation in murders. Why? Well, let's think about this. Criminals are still getting guns and they know that most people either cannot have them, or have them where they can't use them, so what do they have to worry about? Nothing! So what does Chicago get for having gun control - the highest murder rate in the nation!
Why was the Second Amendment written? Was it for hunting? No! Was it for sport shooting? No! Was it because we did not have an army? No! Then why? The founding fathers had just come from a war where the government (England) controlled its people because most could not defend themselves. In America, it was hard for England to control the people because we all had guns. It is because we had guns that we won the war.
Our founding fathers put the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights to protect us from our own government. Now the last thing I would ever want is a war with ourselves, but if someone feels they are King and can take away our Constitutional rights, at some point we need to defend our rights, or lose our freedoms.
If you force guns to be licensed, as in other countries, the licensing of weapons has often been a precursor to a ban. When the ban comes into effect, the authorities know right where to confiscate the licensed weapons. As for background checks, you make it sound like the Sheriff is against background checks. The NRA has agreed to background checks, so I don't fully understand that comment. But let's look at some facts. Do you really believe a criminal is going to license their guns? No! Do you think a criminal is going to care about background checks? No! He/she will just buy it on the black market. So let's do what we can with background checks, but let's also not live in a fantasy world and think this will stop hardcore criminals.
My gun rights have NEVER infringed upon anyone else's constitutional rights. Criminals infringe upon other people's constitutional rights. My gun right is an actual constitutional right that you believe you have the right to infringe upon. Once they take my constitutional rights and they decide to take your constitutional rights, who will be there to defend you?
Mike Andersen is a resident of Winnemucca.
[[In-content Ad]]
