Response From my Congressman on Gun Control

[peckman28]

This is the response I received from Congressman Andy Harris on my concerns about the all-out assault on our 2A rights that statists are currently launching under the guise of "protecting the children". I hope that the rest of you are making your views known to your representatives and senators, and telling them you oppose using this tragedy as an excuse to deprive everyone of their constitutionally guaranteed liberties. Anyway, here is what he has to say:

Thank you for contacting me about the recent Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut and your concern about the potential erosion of our 2nd Amendment rights. As an educator and father of five, two of whom are still in school, the horror that took place on the morning of Friday, December 14, 2012 is unfathomable. My deepest thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the 27 victims and the Newtown community.



We all must work together to prevent these types of tragedies. I believe we have to start by addressing the culture of violence that has consumed our country. Our news media, movies, television shows, and video games display endless violent images that glorify and inspire this behavior. We have to stop sensationalizing these murderers. According to KidsHealth, the average child spends 28 hours a week watching television and it is estimated that by the time this child leaves elementary school, he or she will have witnessed 8,000 murders and over 100,000 other acts of violence (and this does not include violent video games). According to The Parents Television Council, by the time children reach the age of 18, they have seen more than 40,000 murders and 200,000 acts of violence. I believe this is a major contribution to the problem.



As a physician, I also feel mental health care reform needs to be a part of the discussion. It is important to remember that those with mental illnesses rarely commit acts of violence and this low incidence must be put into perspective. However, we need to make sure children and young adults with mental illness are diagnosed and have access to proper therapy in order to help them cope with their condition. Studies show that more than 10% of children in the United States may benefit from some sort of mental health treatment, but most do not receive help. There is a shortage of resources and services available to serve those that need mental health care support. Furthermore, where these resources exist, their implementation could be improved and used more effectively.



Like you, I agree that we must enforce to the fullest extent possible our current gun control laws that protect people from danger, like preventing gun ownership by criminals or those suffering from a severe psychological disorder that could result in a violent act. Currently, over 4,450 crimes related to guns exist on the federal law books, and tens of thousands have been proposed in the Federal Register. According to the Brady Campaign, Connecticut has the 5th toughest gun laws in the country including an assault weapons ban. Norway, a nation with some of the toughest gun laws in the world, not too long ago had to deal with a mass murderer killing over 80 people, most of whom were children. Illegal use of a firearm, as was the case with the Sandy Hook shooter, should always be prosecuted to the fullest extent.



I believe that by addressing our country's increasingly worrisome culture of violence, and implementing strategies to generally improve our mental health system, we can lessen the occurrence of these tragedies by targeting the root causes of mass murders. I am grateful for your comments, and you may rest assured that I will keep your views in mind as legislation on this issue is discussed. I hope that you will feel free to contact me on any issue of importance to you or your family in the future.





Sincerely,

Andy Harris, M.D.
Member of Congress

 

[EL1227]

Andy has always been on our side, so I respect his response. He was quick to point out that it's illegal firearm posession and use that should be blamed, whether it's because it falls into the hands of a criminal or someone who is mentally disturbed.

Hopefully he is aware of the work being done on the HB618 mental health task force, of which MSI and AGC are participants.

 

[Crownroyal79]

The fact that he worded and believes the we have to "get to the ROOT" of the problem is what I've been saying since day one.

 

[Hyp81]

Good to see at least one of these people has their head screwed on straight.

 

[Mr H]

Can I trade John Sarbanes in???

 

[teratos]

Andy has always been on our side, so I respect his response. He was quick to point out that it's illegal firearm posession and use that should be blamed, whether it's because it falls into the hands of a criminal or someone who is mentally disturbed.

Hopefully he is aware of the work being done on the HB618 mental health task force, of which MSI and AGC are participants.

Glad to have a voice of reason. I think HB618 is a (mostly) good bill. We had no idea how relevant it was when we were discussing it. I think few responsible gun owners can argue against the fact that there are people out there who should not have access to firearms. It would be ideal if we could find a system which would keep guns out the hands of those who ought no possess them. Unfortunately, with freedom comes individuals who will use that freedom to do evil deeds.

 

[Bob A]

I emailed my representatives and senators, but have rec'd no response. Big surprise.

 

[Hyp81]

Mailed letters to mine, but I am not anticipating much of a response, either. Mine are pretty hard-core liberal.

 

[davsco]

i'm shocked, in a good way, that he gave you a personalized and detailed response. i have contacted rep's a few times and have just gotton back vague responses that they would keep my thoughts in mind, but never said how they felt or would act on the issues.

and, thanks for writing them!

 

[Zaicran]

If anyone wants to share with me in a PM what they wrote to their representatives I would be grateful. NO clue how to start a dialog..

 

[zoostation]

In about a month, when the national mood has had a good chance to settle down, as it is already beginning to settle down, you are going to see all the turncoat former pro-gun federal politicians who walked out on us right now come slithering back talking about how much they love the Second Amendment and just wanted "dialogue" with the other side. Meanwhile Dr. Harris and other men of principle will be able to hold their heads high.

 

[Afield]

In about a month, when the national mood has had a good chance to settle down, as it is already beginning to settle down, you are going to see all the turncoat former pro-gun federal politicians who walked out on us right now come slithering back talking about how much they love the Second Amendment and just wanted "dialogue" with the other side. Meanwhile Dr. Harris and other men of principle will be able to hold their heads high.

I had a disturbing thought yesterday. What if our enemies like al Qaeda are paying attention to this, and realize that now that airlines are tightened up, the way for them to terrorize America is by attacking the soft targets that are our schools. What if instead of a maniac with a stolen gun, it is 4 men with political motivations?

So while we focus on guns and mental health (still an important dialogue), we completely ignore stepping up school security. To our peril I fear.

 

[teratos]

I had a disturbing thought yesterday. What if our enemies like al Qaeda are paying attention to this, and realize that now that airlines are tightened up, the way for them to terrorize America is by attacking the soft targets that are our schools. What if instead of a maniac with a stolen gun, it is 4 men with political motivations?

So while we focus on guns and mental health (still an important dialogue), we completely ignore stepping up school security. To our peril I fear.

Look around you as you go about your day. You will realize that there are ample opportunities for a motivated individual to kill large numbers of people with a minimum of expense and planning. I am shocked it doesn't happen more.

 

[DaemonAssassin]

Glad to have a voice of reason. I think HB618 is a (mostly) good bill. We had no idea how relevant it was when we were discussing it. I think few responsible gun owners can argue against the fact that there are people out there who should not have access to firearms. It would be ideal if we could find a system which would keep guns out the hands of those who ought no possess them. Unfortunately, with freedom comes individuals who will use that freedom to do evil deeds.

Can you inform us of what it contains?

 

[ma_deuce]

Harris is the only member of our congressional delegation we can expect any support from. Like I'm going to write to Elijah Cummings and expect an open-minded reception? And why the hell is my corner of Timonium in Elijah Cummings district anyway? This is Timonium, for chrissakes. Everything here's been screwed up since Glendenning decided to gerrymander Erhlich out of his own congressional district.

Anyway, it's not Federal legislation we've got to worry about, as much as state. At least the Republicans still have a majority in the House of Representatives. The Democrats have a stranglehold on this State, and can do just about whatever they want.

 

[MDFF2008]

Can you inform us of what it contains?

618 created a committee to study mental health laws in Maryland. Mr. Teratos is MSI's representative on the committee and doing an A+ job.

 

[teratos]

Can you inform us of what it contains?

Let me backpedal a minute. I think the recommendations of the task force would make a good bill. God knows what our legislators would do with it. I am on my phone, and don't have a copy of the draft recommendations handy. I'll get those up later for you.

 

[newmuzzleloader]

I got the same response from him to my letter. The Governors office sent a canned we got ur letter response. same thing from Kathy Szeliga, but none of my other delegates. Haven't heard back from Babs or Cardin or El Presidente.

 

[newmuzzleloader]

If anyone wants to share with me in a PM what they wrote to their representatives I would be grateful. NO clue how to start a dialog..

This tragedy should NOT be looked at as a political opportunity. We share
the horror that all decent people feel,and the sorrow that the country
feels for the families of the slain children and teachers. I implore you
to stop and deliberate,not just react emotionally and quickly to the
horror that this evil person did. Passing new (or old) laws further
diminishing law abiding citizens' rights will not fix what happened or
keep it from happening again.
This deranged person could have stolen his mothers car after killing her
and driven through a crowded playground or bus stop killing innocent
children but I daresay not one of you would be all over the the airwaves
demanding that model of vehicle be banned. China has a complete firearms
ban for the ordinary citizen and yet on the same day that this
creature(the names of these people should not be remembered, that is what
they want)killed so many children another madman took a knife to a school
in Chine and stabbed and slashed 22 children there. Do we ban Knives as
well? The common thread is that these items are inanimate objects that can
be used by evil people to do intentional harm; they are merely the tools.
To succumb to a knee-jerk reaction by implementing various types of
weapons bans is nothing more than a feel-good action that targets the tool
and not the behaviors of the individual. This deranged underage individual
chose to break numerous laws to carry out his horrific deed. Another law
or restriction would not have stopped him. Our forefathers gave us the
Bill of Rights and those Rights have withstood the test of time. This is
not about the need for more laws, it's about ENFORCEMENT of current laws.
It's about improving our broken judicial system and addressing the
desperate lack of mental health services in our country while allowing law
abiding citizens to enjoy the protections granted them in the
Constitution.


I used some pieces of letters that other members posted and tweaked it and added bits of my own thoughts. I think if our elected officials get a bunch of letters that are all the same they'll just look at it like a form letter and toss it out. Some will probly do that anyway but MAYBE, just MAYBE somebody will write something that makes them stop and think.

 

[peckman28]

Harris is the only member of our congressional delegation we can expect any support from. Like I'm going to write to Elijah Cummings and expect an open-minded reception? And why the hell is my corner of Timonium in Elijah Cummings district anyway? This is Timonium, for chrissakes. Everything here's been screwed up since Glendenning decided to gerrymander Erhlich out of his own congressional district.

Anyway, it's not Federal legislation we've got to worry about, as much as state. At least the Republicans still have a majority in the House of Representatives. The Democrats have a stranglehold on this State, and can do just about whatever they want.

I hope you'll still write though. We can't be taking this idiotic nonsense lying down. If they are bombarded with enough mail indicating they will lose a good enough chunk of votes for abandoning their oath in favor of gun control, it may give pause. Pipe dream? Maybe. Nevertheless, I'd rather be able to say I tried.