Nra

While you put the emphasis of evil on handguns, you miss many points ("The NRA sticks to its guns," April 17). In your recent editorial, you once again fail at providing accurate coverage. Being a life member of the National Rifle Association, I never heard in its platform that they want all citizens to be armed and blowing other innocent citizens away. Be it handguns, or one's ability to lawfully carry, and/or the NRA, the one phrase missing in your lexicon is "responsible use. " First, a lot has happened in such a short time, and two, the NRA publications are fact-based, not emotionally so, and will cover the Florida shooting within such constraints as they exist to provide such information for both education and responsible use. Most likely it will be a critique on the courts and the facts that come out. Instead of sensationalism, such has been reported on, it will ultimately be the facts.

I understand that there are about 310 million people living in the United States, and private citizens here own about 300 million firearms. If these figures are even roughly correct, then the gun industry faces the challenge of selling into a saturated market. They clearly have a motive for promoting repeat and multiple sales while repressing any regulations that would slow down the process or discourage the buyer. In November of 2012, a barbaric mass human sacrifice was performed in Newtown, Conn.

We know that a cigar is generally just a cigar, but the same cannot be said about a gun. For some, a gun is a fetish item protected by the Second Amendment while for others it is simply an extension of manhood. A gun is a lethal weapon which many citizens own and use in a responsible manner. Does the NRA really wish to arm dangerous and erratic people? One would think that the NRA would support responsible gun control legislation. Why would anyone be afraid of gun registration? Clearly, this is the only way to control the proliferation of dangerous weapons.

Last month, I received emails from two people I know but who don't know each other: one a close friend and Second Amendment supporter, and the other a regular reader who sends me news items she believes the "liberal media" are willfully suppressing. Each sent me a story link about recent U.S. Department of Homeland Security purchases of huge stockpiles of ammunition, including hollow-point bullets. A Forbes.com column penned by Larry Bell, replete with conspiratorial overtones, suggested that the Obama administration is up-arming itself while trying to disarm the citizenry.

It was with great amusement that I read in the Sunday Sun about the NRA member who was interviewed at the annual convention in Houston and said he would like for the NRA leaders and the leaders of the country to work together to find common ground. According to the polls there is overwhelming support for closing the loophole on background checks. The latest poll from Quinnipiac University found that 88 percent of gun owners support universal background checks. There is your common ground.

I become almost speechless when I hear the NRA and people like Fort Worth, Texas, Mayor Betsy Price speak of their right to assault weapons and the high-capacity magazines for them. I cannot understand why any "good, outstanding citizens" need them. This is beyond the scope of the Second Amendment. I admire President Barack and Vice President Joe Biden for being steadfast in the policies they wish to pass. We, the people, are supposed to be running the United States, not the NRA. As for the better mental health policies and services the opponents of gun control like to put forth, I wonder if they realize they are the very ones who vote to cut these services.

The past few days, we've been wowed in the network news that since the Newtown, Conn. shootings, the NRA has recruited 100,000 new members. Impressive! Until you look at a few real stats: The number of NRA supporters is being touted as 4.2 million. I looked up the U.S. Census figures. The nation's 2012 population was 311,591,917. Those under 18 comprised 23.7 percent or 73,847,284. That means the total U.S. adult population is 237,744,633. If 4.2 million of those adults are members of the NRA, that means that 233,544,633 adults are not members of the NRA. That is, 98.2 percent of all U.S. adults choose not to join the National Rifle Association.

I understand that there are about 310 million people living in the United States, and private citizens here own about 300 million firearms. If these figures are even roughly correct, then the gun industry faces the challenge of selling into a saturated market. They clearly have a motive for promoting repeat and multiple sales while repressing any regulations that would slow down the process or discourage the buyer. In November of 2012, a barbaric mass human sacrifice was performed in Newtown, Conn.

Blaming the National Rifle Association when guns are used in criminal deaths as Dan Rodricks did in his recent column ("Adapting to the newest form of gun insanity," July 24) is like blaming the Alcohol Beverage Industry Association when a drunk driver kills someone. Or blaming the American Medical Association when a doctor causes an unnecessary death. The sole blame for the mass murders in Aurora, Colo., is squarely on the perpetrator for his very evil deeds. Ron Wirsing, Havre de Grace

Your recent editorial expressed outrage at the National Rifle Association's ridiculous claim that the answer to the Newtown school shooting is more guns in schools ("NRA to America: Blame yourself, not us," Dec. 21). But what position did you expect the NRA to take? The NRA does not represent gun safety advocates, nor does it represent gun owners. It is a trade association largely funded by gun manufacturers and its sole mission is to promote gun sales and increase profits for those manufacturers.

I just finished reading the well-written article about a better way to track a bomber ("Taggants can help authorities trace explosives, but they're not used today because of NRA opposition," May 1). I was shocked and dismayed to learn that the NRA has successfully pressured Congress into not requiring taggants to be placed into explosives. The use of taggants would in no way infringe on the Second Amendment. The article discussed the 1979 case of James McFillin. I can attest to the fact that were it not for the use of taggants, that case would never have been solved.

It was with great amusement that I read in the Sunday Sun about the NRA member who was interviewed at the annual convention in Houston and said he would like for the NRA leaders and the leaders of the country to work together to find common ground. According to the polls there is overwhelming support for closing the loophole on background checks. The latest poll from Quinnipiac University found that 88 percent of gun owners support universal background checks. There is your common ground.

Terrorism, whether practiced in the U.S. or overseas, can be defined as a deliberate act of violence to instill fear in a target audience. We fight terrorism when we stay calm but resolute; we abet terrorists when our response is to panic or try to foment panic in others. This past weekend, the CEO of the National Rifle Association stood up on a stage in Houston and chose to follow the latter route, linking the recent bombings in Boston with gun ownership - or a lack thereof. "How many Bostonians," the NRA's Wayne LaPierre asked, "wish they had a gun two weeks ago?"

It was such a short mention in Thursday's newspaper ("5-year-old accidentally kills sister with own rifle," May 2) that I thought it deserves more attention. Five-year old boy accidentally kills two-year old sister with own rifle! Then it goes on to say that parents bought the rifle as a present for the boy's 5th birthday recently. The NRA may have it right about the right to bear arms, and the Constitution doesn't say at what age. And there is no law that will ever protect us from stupidity.

The mayhem in Boston the week of April 15 was a reminder of how an American city can be paralyzed by a homemade bomb. The same kinds of improvised explosive devices that menaced U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan can easily be deployed by freelance terrorists or madmen trying to send a message, incite panic or just create a media spectacle. The Tsarnaev brothers were identified as suspects in the bombing because of surveillance videotape, but the FBI might have been able to do it faster if tiny plastic markers had been part of the small-arms propellant packed into the pressure-cooker bombs.

If you hate Maryland's new gun law and wish you could vote against it, Sue Payne is looking for you. The Montgomery County woman this week filed paperwork with the Board of Elections to petition the controversial new gun-control bill to referendum.  She said she bought a web domain, lined up a web designer to create a digital system for distributing petitions and is now looking for someone to take over the operation, which she calls Free State Petitions. “I will turn over the language to whoever wants to come and do this under the banner of Free State Petitions so that the citizens of the state can have a voice,” Payne said Friday.

In the debate over gun control, the National Rifle Association and supporters of the status quo are dictating a narrative that insists what is important is not limiting the number of guns in our country but targeting the mentally ill as potential perpetrators of gun violence ("Guns and mental illness," Feb. 21). Rather than suggest that identifying mentally unstable people will enable us to control gun violence, I would argue that anyone who owns an assault weapon is, by virtue of that very fact, likely to be mentally ill themselves.

Guns are on the mind of much of America in the wake of the deadly theater shooting in Colorado and a foiled copycat crime here in Maryland. They're certainly on the mind of Maryland congressional candidate Faith Loudon who's planning a shooting-themed fundraiser with her "very special guest" National Rifle Association President David Keane. Loudon, a Pasedena mother of three and a Republican who's running in the state's 4th congressional district sent out an invitation over the weekend to what she's calling a "shooting event.

Your editorial "Tyranny of the minority" (April 19) provided a clear and convincing picture of how poorly Americans have been served by a minority in Congress that has been bullied by the NRA. Most Americans realize that a sophisticated, well educated society needs to move beyond a vigilante, cowboy-like environment. They also understand that we are a diverse society that guarantees individuals the right to own a gun to protect their home, to hunt or to engage in sporting activities.

We know that a cigar is generally just a cigar, but the same cannot be said about a gun. For some, a gun is a fetish item protected by the Second Amendment while for others it is simply an extension of manhood. A gun is a lethal weapon which many citizens own and use in a responsible manner. Does the NRA really wish to arm dangerous and erratic people? One would think that the NRA would support responsible gun control legislation. Why would anyone be afraid of gun registration? Clearly, this is the only way to control the proliferation of dangerous weapons.