More "I'm a gunowner...but"

Here's a garbage LTE at Fredericksburg.com about a man who doesn't know very much about guns, and wants everyone to leave their handguns at home so he can "feel safe." Sound familiar? Let's take a look:

Happiness is a warm (and fuzzy) handgun

Date published: 6/22/2008

Happiness is a warm (and fuzzy) handgun

A recent pro-gun letter ["Concealed carry could save your life," June 10] citing the "facts" (2.5 million crimes per year prevented and lower crime rates) is straight out of the NRA "Handbook of Handy Facts" and got me to wondering when was the last time I heard the National Rifle Association mention anything about rifles.

Here's some "facts" that you seem to have missed. See page 17.

It's all about handguns, carry permits, and a warm, fuzzy feeling of safety because I'm packin' heat. Or maybe the people around me are packin'.

Those who carry for their safety don't care about a "fuzzy feeling of safety" because they are safe.

Somehow the thought of more guns on the street does not make me feel safer.

Rights are not subject to your "feeling safe." I don't feel safe around 85% of the drivers on the road, but that doesn't mean that they should turn in their keys to make me feel better.

We're being sold the Hollywood version of guns--a world where everyone's a dead eye dick and hits what they're aiming at. First shot, every shot.

No, you obviously can't tell the difference between the make believe that Hollywood portrays and the real world where the rest of us live.

Reality paints a very different picture. News reports and those police-video TV programs show that, during times of extreme stress, even trained professionals will simply fill the air with lead and then check on casualties. Everybody hit the dirt!

Trained professionals like these guys, huh? So I guess when some jackass starts executing people in a shopping mall my best defense is to just let myself and family get killed because I'm too incompetent to handle a simple device under stress? How ever did so many veterans like myself function in an austere environment without killing everyone in sight? It seems like your confusing reality with TV again.

Handguns are difficult to master, hard to aim, inherently inaccurate, and have a nasty habit of being stolen, borrowed by the kids, or simply going off at the wrong time.

Guns don't just "go off," nor do they have a will of their own. Automobiles are difficult to master, easy to aim, inherently dangerous, and drivers have a nasty habit of getting drunk and crashing them into other cars, often killing the occupants - and cars aren't used to save nearly as many lives every day.

Either don't buy one or please leave it at home. Speaking of home, I recommend a short-barrel 20-gauge pump-gun and a hot load of 00 buck. No aiming required; just point and click.

Just "point and click" is pretty absurd. I've got a short barrel 20 gauge and it is a fine home defense gun, but if you had the slightest clue about how they work you would know just how stupid you sound. See here for an illustrated test of shotgun penetration testing on drywall. And no, I won't leave my handgun at home and I plan on buying as many as my checkbook will allow, so with no due respect take your hot load of buck and stick it somewhere else.

Jeff Van Hartesveldt

King George

Here is the comment that I left on the letter:

"Point and click?" Have you ever fired a shotgun at close range? I already know the answer - NO! Within the 30' or less of a house your shotgun is making about a 1" pattern; hardly "point and click," not to mention that a shotgun will penetrate just as many walls as a handgun, if not more. My safety, as well as my family's are not subject to your "feeling safe," and maybe Hollywood has had a profound impact on your life, but the rest of us grownups live in the real world.