Personal Response to TYPICAL ANTI-GUN article in Arizona Republic

I tried to post the anti-gun article, titled "Don't relax, assault weapons are near you - Alleged plot case puts high-powered issue in spotlight" located at , but due to copyright complaints, it is not allowed. If you have missed the anti-gun bleating of the left during the election cycle, go to the above url and read this drivel. Then, do as I did and write this anti-gun GOOFBALL a "nasty gram". Here is the letter I wrote him...

Dear Mr. Thomason, I just read your article, "Don't relax, assault weapons are near you" online. Since democrats figured they'd best refrain from trashing guns, gun owners, and our 2nd Amendment during an important election cycle in order to have ANY hope of winning ANY office; and since the so-called "Assault Weapons Ban" was allowed to sunset due to its ineffectiveness at doing ANYTHING other than harassing and inconveniencing law-abiding citizens (it had absolutely NO impact on crime and criminals), I have come to expect a dearth of articles supporting gun control in any of its many forms. Thank you for reminding me that an irrational enemy of our 2nd Amendment freedoms is still out there, lurking about and ready to continue the incremental march towards licensing, registration, and eventual confiscation. You are also guilty of trying to revive and spread the same old, tired anti-gun LIES and DISTORTIONS as your ilk has for YEARS. You TRY to suggest that this miscreant, Dugan, had easy access to the weapon he acquired BECAUSE we don't have the the so-called "Assault Weapons Ban" anymore. The FACT is, that the Clinton semi-auto ban was a largely COSMETIC ban that affected the manufacture, sale, and ownership semi-auto firearms with certain features, AND that these type of weapons owned or manufactured BEFORE the ban went into effect were allowed to be owned and purchased. In other words, the very type of rifle that Dugan acquired, could have been acquired through legal means EVEN IF the ban had been renewed. Used weapons of this type were available ALL DURING the TEN YEARS the ban was in effect, and new ones with minor cosmetic modifications (allowed and PERFECTLY LEGAL under the law) could have been legally purchased by any qualified buyer during this time period.

Additonally, you demonstrate your ignorance on this issue by stating that these type of weapons are "high-powered" and "powerful enough to rip through bulletproof vests worn by most police officers." The VAST MAJORITY of these type of firearms, including the one you describe in your article, are NOT "high-powered", and in FACT, are less powerful than the average DEER HUNTING RIFLE found in MILLIONS of homes around the country (most of these also are capable of greater accuracy since they have rifle scopes mounted on them). The 7.62 x 39, and 5.56 x 45 cartridges (as used by many armed forces in the world) are actually in the MIDDLE of the power and range spectrum. In FACT, the 5.56 NATO round used in our troops M16 and M4 weapons is called the .223 Remington in the civilian world. Being a .22 caliber round, it is not considered sufficient enough to be used for DEER hunting in many states. As far as being able to pierce a policeman's vest, almost ANY rifle round can do that, and in fact, this FACT has been used in a disingenous effort by anti-gun liberals in congress to try and BAN a whole class of rifle (read that HUNTING) rounds. Fortunately, knowledgeable PRO-GUN & PRO-2nd Amendment congressman, lobbyists, industry reps, and citizens like me that make up the NRA see through these types of anti-gun ploys and shut them down as quickly as possible.

While the ignorance of the left-wing media on gun issues is somewhat understandable, your blatant misrepresentations that can not be attributed to ignorance, are beyond the pale. You CONTINUE to try and fool the public into believing that a SEMI-automatic weapon, of the type that Dugan had (a ROMARM), is the SAME "type of weapon used in many military arsenals, including those of terrorists, according to news reports". News reported by who? The left-wing media has been LYING about guns and gun owners for DECADES, so if your reporting is from them, or worse, from the likes of the Brady Bunch (formerly known as Handgun Control, Inc.) or the Violence Policy Center, then you are just spreading LIES and DISTORTIONS. I beliveve it was The Million (they OBVIOUSLY can't count) Mom March who recently had a campaign to renew the SEMI-AUTO ban by using a graphic of Usama Bin Laden with his ACTUAL, FULLY-AUTOMATIC AK-47 assault rifle. And it was ABC Nightly News that, during a report on the SEMI-AUTO ban, showed audio and video of the North Hollywood bank robbers firing FULLY-AUTOMATIC weapons. LIES and PROPAGANDA designed to turn public opinion to support Clinton's useless (from a crime fighting perspective) and 2nd Amendment infringing semi-auto ban.

Also, you, and your ilk, continue to bring up Columbine for its EMOTIONAL impact on this issue. This is a CHEAP, DISGUSTING, and DISINGENUOUS use of a tragedy to help further your anti-gun agenda. Fortunately, your attempts to push more gun control on the law-abiding citizens of America is doomed to fail. Unlike Canada, Australia, and Mediocre (formerly Great) Britain, the American people are NOT knee-jerk, reactionary WIMPS when it comes to our traditions, rights, and way of life. An unfortunate, extremely RARE tragedy involving firearms (such as Columbine) will NOT sway us into diminishing or removing our 2nd Amendment RIGHTS. Just as a terrorist attack would not sway us into voting for weaklings, appeasers, or pacifists (as they did in Spain), an occasional tragedy involving the misuse of firearms by a criminal, terrorist, or crazed individual will NOT result in AMERICANS rejecting their 2nd Amendment RIGHTS in part or in full.

Lastly, as a former active duty Marine involved in the training of Marine reservists (for a total of 4 1/2 years of my 12 years on active duty), MANY of whom were police officers (on both coasts, I had Marines that served as police officers/deputies with the L.A.P.D., L.A.Sheriffs Dept., Atlanta P.D., and Macon, GA P.D., to name a few), I KNOW that MOST rank and file STREET cops support the RIGHT of law-abiding citizens (INCLUDING themselves when they are off-duty, or when they quit or retire) to keep and bear these type of firearms. If there is ANY support for a ban like this, it is mainly from inner-city police chiefs who have been appointed by left-wing, anti-gun mayors. These big city chiefs are NOT the average cop on the beat, but are mere liberal politicians and admin types (pencil pushers, desk jockeys, etc.) with badges and guns. I am glad that you did include, in your article, the opinion of the Gilbert police department on these wepaons and the 2nd Amendment. This is the opinion of the VAST MAJORITY of police officers that make a real difference in our communities, NOT that of the left-wing chiefs and union thugs.

I did not claim you were not smart at all. For all I know you have an IQ of umpty-million. All I said was that you post looks stupid and immature with all the unnecessary capitalization.

It's just advice -- take it or leave it. But you will be taken a lot more seriously if you lay off the silly capitalization.

And YES, I KNOW it's "grammar", vice "grammer". Get a life.

Now you are criticizing me for something you imagined I said. I have never corrected nor criticized your grammar or your spelling.

I wasn't criticizing you for something I "imagined you SAID". I was criticizing you for something I imagined you WOULD say. It really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things anyway, does it? Aren't we on the same side? If your original comments were advice, very well. Point taken, and ignored. For this reason... SOME things in life, such as our constitutional rights, merit some passion (one reason Kerry couldn't connect with his target audience, is because he had no passion, and of course... because he's a lying-sack-of-sh*t). One way to show that passion and to make sure the target of that passion gets the main points, as far as the written word goes, is to capitalize, underline, or use bold letters. If the way I make my points is not to your liking, sorry. Either way, I am realistic enough to know that I am probably not going to change the entrenched liberal, anti-gun mind. Semper fi.

I was criticizing you for something I imagined you WOULD say.

But I wouldn't. So there's no point.

One way to show that passion and to make sure the target of that passion gets the main points

But if your points are valid and even necessary, and the person to whom they are directed tosses them aside because they resemble the ravings of a looney person you have accomplished nothing. Your point would be much better made without the capitalizations. It looks sophomoric no matter what the content.

Good letter, but if I may offer just two minor criticisms:

Formatting is our friend. More paragraphs makes for easier reading.

Don't use so many ALL CAPS words or phrases, it's irritating. Makes it hard to read. If you feel you must emphasize something use lower case italics or lower case bold font.

I KNOW that MOST rank and file STREET cops support the RIGHT of law-abiding citizens (INCLUDING themselves when they are off-duty, or when they quit or retire) to keep and bear these type of firearms.

Twenty years ago this would have been 100% the case. However those cops are now retiring as fast as they can in the face of increasing lawsuits and decreasing departmental support for police involved shootings.

Look at the demographic of todays new street cops and indeed the military folks in the combat arms, aka the trigger pullers. They are uniformly products of the public schools and they are victims of that anti-gun, anti-freedom agenda. Most new street cops, those on the street for five years or less are pretty emphatic in their belief that only they should have access to firearms. However, they are also shocked when that situation is accurately described to them as a "Police State."

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