Letter: More gun control won’t stop criminals, he says

TO THE EDITOR:

In the wake of the horrible and tragic shootings at the University of Northern Illinois and earlier at the college of West Virginia, there will most certainly be a state and national cry for more gun control, with shouts that firearms are too available and easy to buy.

No normal-minded person can ever understand or accept the carnage that mentally deficient killers committed at WV or NIU. The acts are despicable. They are acts, not of insufficient gun control, or of the use of an inanimate object, but acts caused by moral and serious decay of our social structure and treatment of the mentally impaired. Additional gun control won’t solve the social problems or make guns harder for criminals and those bent on mayhem to obtain guns. Those persons aren’t inconvenienced by gun laws, only the law abiding citizen is.

When it comes to buying a firearm, many people are of the mind set that a person merely walks into a gun shop, picks out a firearm, puts his money down and walks out the door. While it may be that easy for a criminal to get a gun on the black market, a legal purchase from a firearms dealer is a much more complicated matter. Additional gun control won’t stop criminals. In fact, criminals applaud gun control. It makes their job easier and safer. Gun laws only impair the right of us peaceful citizens to own and keep our firearms.

Next week, I will describe the steps needed for a law abiding citizen to purchase a firearm. You can decide for yourself if they are too available and easy to buy.

Dale Lamminen

Spring Valley

Tags: opinion, gun, control