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Letter: Gun owners must step up

In the letter “Stop Blaming the Tools” the nail was hit on the head. It is exactly right that guns are not the problem, gun owners are the problem. The parallel was drawn between deaths by cars. Cars are not the problem, car owners are the problem. That is why there is rigorous licensing and registration laws for car ownership. That is why as a society we restrict how fast cars can go and we are constantly tweaking them to make them safer. Guns need to be treated the same way. We are already on a very slippery slope if one thinks we should allow ownership of any sort of people killing device with no restrictions.

I often hear the argument that strict gun regulation will not prevent criminals from getting guns. This has also proven true with cars. Despite strict regulations on car ownership and the license to drive, people are driving unlawfully all the time. It is not correct to assume that because people break laws we should not have laws.

I am not a gun owner because I never acquired the taste for it and I decided long ago not to bring such a deadly force into my home and endanger my wife and children. Gun ownership doubles one’s chance of being shot.



So what to do about controlling the “tool,” which is so obviously being misused. Well, because I don’t even own a gun I do not know the answer, and any solution I come up with would be considered “blaming the tool.”

It is time for gun owners to step up and take responsibility for their “tools” which are so often responsible for human death. Owners of guns have a right to their guns and an obligation to their fellow Americans to set in motion sensible registration, licensing, restrictions and safety measures. The debate is not, and never has been, about the “tool.” It is about the use of the “tool” and how best to control the users. If you own a gun then get active and do something about gun owner control.



Munro Wilcox

Glenwood Springs


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