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Re: “Reader Laments: Too Many Gone
Too Soon Due To ‘The Gun’,” letter, May 2007
To the Editor:
Many lives have been saved because they
had “THE GUN” to protect themselves.
I lived in the Los Angeles area during the
Rodney King riots. All available police were assigned to protect
government buildings. Store owners armed themselves and protected
their own property. Mayor Bradley placed a freeze on the purchase
of guns and ammunition. I had no protection at all and I could not
purchase protection for the week of the riots. Mayor Bradley would
not release the National Guard to help protect the citizens for
many days during the riots.
As soon as the gun and ammunition freeze
was lifted I purchased a hand gun and pistol grip shotgun. I also
learned how to use them.
The Rodney King riot convinced me to move
to Florida. When I arrived in the St. Petersburg area, I enrolled
in an NRA class on gun safety at the Antelope Valley Gun Club on
118th Ave. I also joined the NRA and placed the NRA stickers on the
entrance doors to my house as a warning that I was armed.
Each month I read the “Freedom First
Magazine,” an NRA publication. One of its feature articles is
“Armed Citizens.” It reprints newspaper articles of
citizens who have saved their families from certain death because
they had a gun for protection.
I had the attitude that the police would
always be available to protect my property. I was wrong. Police
cannot be at all places in time to protect you. An example of that
fact is the dead students and teachers at Virginia Tech who were
killed by a murderer who brought his guns into a “NO
GUN” area.
England confiscated all hand guns from its
citizens. They did not retrieve hand guns from the bad guys. The
net result is an out of control increase in murder and crime on
that island nation. At the same time Florida enacted the
“Concealed Carry” law and crime went down.
I was raised to fear guns. I obtained my
first gun when I was in my late 50s as a result of the fear I had
in L.A. when thousands of out of control murderers were burning and
killing the innocent helpless citizens of L.A. You have no idea how
sacred the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is until you
experience the helplessness of having it taken away. Thank God
Mayor Bradley was overruled within a few weeks and we received our
Second Amendment rights back for good.
Lawrence J. Burke
Safety Harbor
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