Silent Hunter
Member
- Feb 22, 2013
- 37
I sent this to both Senator's Mikulski and Edwards. And I will be sending similar to every representative on the state and national level soon. I have been writing letters, making phone calls and sending emails daily for several weeks. We have to keep pressure at the state AND national level as everyone knows. I am posting this letter in case someone who maybe doesn't have the time to type one themselve can copy and paste and use this anywhere you like with what ever modifications you want.
And so if there are any good additions or changes anyone wants to suggest I'm always listening. Thanks. Here it is:
Dear Senator Barbara A. Mikulski,
I am writing you today to respectfully ask you to vote against any new gun laws in the state of Maryland. Maryland is already burdened by some of the most oppressive and erroneous gun laws in the nation. We need to stop putting regulations on law abiding citizens and go back to the drawing board on how we treat criminals if we truly want to have any effect on gun crimes or violent crimes in Maryland in general.
Not only is it our 2nd Amendment right to own guns, of at least equal capability to those who might attempt to attack us, many of us have also used gun collecting as a means of financial investment. These laws assault those law abiding citizens on numerous levels beyond that of simply lowering their ability to defend themselves against would be attackers.
These proposed new laws are fundamentally flawed in many ways. The very fact that this legislation uses cosmetic details as criteria for being classified as an “assault weapon” shows a fundamental lack of knowledge or understanding of the firearms this legislation is being drafted to attack. There are many semi-automatic firearms used every day by hunters and sportsman alike that, while bearing similar appearance to a military assault weapon, function no differently than many other commonly used, non-regulated, sporting arms.
For instance, an M4 or M16 has the capability to be used as a fully automatic weapon. An AR-15, while very similar in appearance, is a semi-automatic sporting arm. The AR-15 shoots a .223 caliber round. Relative to the rounds commonly used by hunters for instance; the 30.06, 7mm, .270, .300 Win, etc., the .223 is a very low powered round. A Remington model 760 is a commonly used hunting rifle in America. It bares no resemblance to an assault weapon. Yet, it is semi-automatic and it is often chambered in the far more powerful calibers than the .223, most commonly, the 30.06 which is far more powerful than a .223.
I site this, not to suggest you add the 760 to your ban list but, to illustrate the flawed criteria being used to sweep as many firearms in under the new “assault weapon” labeling as possible. This is clearly being done in an attempt to ban as many firearms as possible – not just assault weapons – which is a direct attack on our 2nd Amendment. This tactic of mislabeling common sporting arms is a deceptive practice being used to get as much support as possible from the misinformed or unfamiliar behind taking as many guns as they can at this point in time. Anyone who knows firearms can see this clearly. And I suspect many who don’t know firearms are also keenly aware of this attempt at deception.
I regard to universal background checks and gun registration; again, neither of these erroneous measures will be effective against criminals. Criminals do not make legal purchases of firearms nor do they submit to any kind of background checks. This is another measure being disguised as a measure to reduce crime while actually being deigned to register law abiding citizen's firearms for later forced confiscation or "mandatory buy back" to be more politically correct. But no matter how you say it, it is unconstitutional and in direct conflict with your oath of office. NICS back ground checks have been in place for years and have not stopped criminals from getting guns. Again, this is another measure that misses the mark on being any real deterrent to criminals or violent crime.
Harsher sentences for all violent crimes and even more severe penalties for crimes involving firearms is a good start. Stop allowing criminals back out on the streets to be repeat offenders again and again until someone dies at their hands. These measures actually focus on deterring criminals, not on criminalizing law abiding citizens. Disarming law abiding citizens does not deter criminals, it further enables them by providing more defenseless victims.
We can take real measures to protect law abiding citizens by educating them on the safe use and handling of firearms. By making classes more available in every community and making it affordable for individuals to own a suitable defense firearm for their home or person. We can stop taxing ammunition and firearms sales to the extent that only the affluent can afford to own them "legally". And we can stop the senseless legislating of laws against law abiding citizens and use the resources wasted, policing law abiding citizens, beefing up police departments and our judicial system and remove these deviants from our society once and for all. New laws to police and disarm law abiding citizens on any level are futile in the fight against violence in this country. I and thousands of your constituents strong suggest you and your peers take an entirely new approach if your desire is truly to curb gun crimes or violent crimes in general and to improve public safety.
In closing, I’d like to say that I know you will act in what you believe to be the best interest of the people when the time comes. Let me assure you that myself and thousand like me all across the wonderful state of Maryland will be watching these proceedings very closely. To be clear - any vote in support of O'Malley's erroneous and unconstitutional gun control proposals will be considered an act against your law abiding constituents and our Constitution and will result in a vote against in 2014. Thank you for taking the time to hear our concerns.
Best regards,
David S.Clem
Rawlings, Maryland 21557
And so if there are any good additions or changes anyone wants to suggest I'm always listening. Thanks. Here it is:
Dear Senator Barbara A. Mikulski,
I am writing you today to respectfully ask you to vote against any new gun laws in the state of Maryland. Maryland is already burdened by some of the most oppressive and erroneous gun laws in the nation. We need to stop putting regulations on law abiding citizens and go back to the drawing board on how we treat criminals if we truly want to have any effect on gun crimes or violent crimes in Maryland in general.
Not only is it our 2nd Amendment right to own guns, of at least equal capability to those who might attempt to attack us, many of us have also used gun collecting as a means of financial investment. These laws assault those law abiding citizens on numerous levels beyond that of simply lowering their ability to defend themselves against would be attackers.
These proposed new laws are fundamentally flawed in many ways. The very fact that this legislation uses cosmetic details as criteria for being classified as an “assault weapon” shows a fundamental lack of knowledge or understanding of the firearms this legislation is being drafted to attack. There are many semi-automatic firearms used every day by hunters and sportsman alike that, while bearing similar appearance to a military assault weapon, function no differently than many other commonly used, non-regulated, sporting arms.
For instance, an M4 or M16 has the capability to be used as a fully automatic weapon. An AR-15, while very similar in appearance, is a semi-automatic sporting arm. The AR-15 shoots a .223 caliber round. Relative to the rounds commonly used by hunters for instance; the 30.06, 7mm, .270, .300 Win, etc., the .223 is a very low powered round. A Remington model 760 is a commonly used hunting rifle in America. It bares no resemblance to an assault weapon. Yet, it is semi-automatic and it is often chambered in the far more powerful calibers than the .223, most commonly, the 30.06 which is far more powerful than a .223.
I site this, not to suggest you add the 760 to your ban list but, to illustrate the flawed criteria being used to sweep as many firearms in under the new “assault weapon” labeling as possible. This is clearly being done in an attempt to ban as many firearms as possible – not just assault weapons – which is a direct attack on our 2nd Amendment. This tactic of mislabeling common sporting arms is a deceptive practice being used to get as much support as possible from the misinformed or unfamiliar behind taking as many guns as they can at this point in time. Anyone who knows firearms can see this clearly. And I suspect many who don’t know firearms are also keenly aware of this attempt at deception.
I regard to universal background checks and gun registration; again, neither of these erroneous measures will be effective against criminals. Criminals do not make legal purchases of firearms nor do they submit to any kind of background checks. This is another measure being disguised as a measure to reduce crime while actually being deigned to register law abiding citizen's firearms for later forced confiscation or "mandatory buy back" to be more politically correct. But no matter how you say it, it is unconstitutional and in direct conflict with your oath of office. NICS back ground checks have been in place for years and have not stopped criminals from getting guns. Again, this is another measure that misses the mark on being any real deterrent to criminals or violent crime.
Harsher sentences for all violent crimes and even more severe penalties for crimes involving firearms is a good start. Stop allowing criminals back out on the streets to be repeat offenders again and again until someone dies at their hands. These measures actually focus on deterring criminals, not on criminalizing law abiding citizens. Disarming law abiding citizens does not deter criminals, it further enables them by providing more defenseless victims.
We can take real measures to protect law abiding citizens by educating them on the safe use and handling of firearms. By making classes more available in every community and making it affordable for individuals to own a suitable defense firearm for their home or person. We can stop taxing ammunition and firearms sales to the extent that only the affluent can afford to own them "legally". And we can stop the senseless legislating of laws against law abiding citizens and use the resources wasted, policing law abiding citizens, beefing up police departments and our judicial system and remove these deviants from our society once and for all. New laws to police and disarm law abiding citizens on any level are futile in the fight against violence in this country. I and thousands of your constituents strong suggest you and your peers take an entirely new approach if your desire is truly to curb gun crimes or violent crimes in general and to improve public safety.
In closing, I’d like to say that I know you will act in what you believe to be the best interest of the people when the time comes. Let me assure you that myself and thousand like me all across the wonderful state of Maryland will be watching these proceedings very closely. To be clear - any vote in support of O'Malley's erroneous and unconstitutional gun control proposals will be considered an act against your law abiding constituents and our Constitution and will result in a vote against in 2014. Thank you for taking the time to hear our concerns.
Best regards,
David S.Clem
Rawlings, Maryland 21557
