My belief about firearms and the second amendment:  only responsible citizens should have access to firearms. 

 

I’d like to tell you about my 75-year-old uncle.  Roger is a Viet Nam veteran who saw combat in an infantry platoon.  He is a great man – friendly, funny and kind.  He is a stable citizen with no criminal convictions.  And he has three guns:  a .38 caliber Colt Cobra revolver, a 9 mm pistol, and a M4 automatic rifle.  Based upon what I have said so far, does anyone have a problem with Roger owning these weapons?  I don’t.   My position on decreasing gun violence is to ensure only responsible, law-abiding citizens have access to lethal weapons.  Our Tennessee Republican leaders disagree.  They believe that any Tennessean, regardless of mental capacity, and criminal history should be able to purchase any type of gun.  They believe that Tennessee adults, age 18 to 20, who are not permitted to purchase alcohol, should be allowed to purchase an M4 carbine.  I wonder what our Republican leaders said to the grieving families of the Tennesseans murdered at the Covenant School by a mentally unstable shooter armed with an automatic weapon?  

 

The second amendment is one of our most important amendments.  The second amendment is a powerful and beautiful concept; our founding fathers were suspicious of standing armies and wanted American militias to be to protect their communities from foreign invasion or oppressive governments.  It’s hard to believe that our nation’s founders would have wanted any citizen to be able to purchase an automatic, military-grade weapon, without some inquiry about that person’s mental stability, criminal history and need for such a deadly and dangerous weapon.  When Republican politicians make the false claim of, “Democrats want to take away your guns”, I say, “Only responsible citizens should have access to firearms.”