[Jungle Work]

My E-Mail to Ms Long and Most Importantly to her Editor.

Dear Ms. Long,

As a retired Texas Municipal Police Officer and a Federal Officer, I found your "Opinion Article on Semi Automatic Firearms" poorly written and even more poorly reasearched. You should check your facts before setting yourself up to be an "X-Purt" in any given area. Want me to list some of your mistatements.

What in the world would you kill with a semi-automatic, unless you are just purposely going hunting for other human beings?

Ms. Young they are used for Competition Shooting and Hunting both. I have used a Semi Auto Rifle for hunting and competive sport shooting since 1961.

Are you going to go out and shoot a deer with a semi-automatic?

I have hunted deer on several occasions with a Semi Automatic Rifle. When hunting the magazine is limited to four rounds of ammunition.

I admit that I don't know a lot about hunting, but seems like if you use a semi-automatic there won't be much left of the very animals you're trying to take home for dinner.

Again, extremely poor research. Most of the rifles that are commonly refered to as "Assault Rifles" have less powerful cartridges than the common rifles used to hunt deer in Texas. The ol' 30-06 is far more powerful that the "AKs or AR-15s" you don't like.

Personally, I'm scared of guns. I will not go near them, whether they're pistols or rifles. I don't care. I have buried too many friends and family members who died from shooting incidents.

But wait, you want to ban Semi Auto Rifles baised on your X-Purt opinions.

In 1994, Congress banned automatic and semiautomatic weapons, but it seems there are more reports than ever about shootings involving assault weapons.
"Immediately after the 1994 law was enacted, the gun industry evaded it by making slight, cosmetic design changes to banned weapons-including those banned by name in the law-and continued to manufacture and sell these "post-ban" or "copycat" guns," as reported in a study by the Violence Policy Center.

I would truly try and not write in one paragraph that the guns are banned and in the next state how they are being sold with slight mondifications. And by the way, the companpanies are adhereing to the law.

Federal law states that automatic weapons can only be used by the military.

I can understand the military needing automatic weapons. They conduct business in war zones, where the enemy is likely to be equipped with equally powerful and destructive automatic weapons.

But on the streets of our cities right here at home?

Assault weapons have no place in America or on our streets.

In the first paragraphs you are talking about Semi Automatic Rifles and in the conclusion you switch to Fully Automatic Machine Guns. Ms. Long, are you intentionally trying to confuse the public you write for or is this just another of your faulty prouncements.

Ms. Sherry Long, I pity your Editor and the readers in Rusk County if your editorial is an example of the journalism your paper produces. In the line of work I dedicated my self to, this sensationalism and faultly writing would have not have been tolerated. I would have been terminated with just cause immediately.

Respectfully,

Her Non Answer

Hello,


I got a lot of response from my assault weapon opinion/edtiorial article that ran in our paper earlier this month.

I realize that some of you may not be from Texas (I noticed that a few emails were from other states with the sign-off signatures at the bottom.)

I have been born and raised in Texas, Dallas to be exact. I did NOT mean for my article to indicate THAT ALL GUNOWNERS are bad and evil. I know it depends who is holding the weapon.

But after the Tyler incident, I began having flashbacks to the night my friend died.

It was 11 years ago. We had just graduated high school two weeks before, a group of us were going to a party for high school 2004 graduates near downtown Dallas. We were just going to have fun. We were teenagers. We didn't bother nobody. We pulled into the parking lot and started to walk to the party. Well there were some other teenagers in the parking lot, stealing a car. As we walked to the party my friend happened to look over and saw them. He could recognize one of the guys from our neighborhood. The kid pulled out a weapon and began firing. It hit two of my friends. It hit one in his main artery in his leg * he lived. My other friend was not so lucky. He took a bullet in the back and a bullet in his side through his ribs. He died protecting me. I was right next to him. It could have been me. I held him as the ambulance was the way. He died on the operating hospital at Parkland Hospital (the same hospital President John F. Kennedy was taken to). Three weeks after graduation we buried him. We were just going to have fun. FUN,,,,FUN,,, we were teenagers. He was scheduled to leave later that summer for a full football scholarship to a 4-year university in Louisiana. I vowed that day I would never ever go near a gun. (and yes I have undergone years of counseling and prayer to move forward. It doesn't make the pain any less painful though)

I realize that everyone with guns is not a bad person and some people do feel safer with them. The point I was trying to make is I don't. I sometimes wonder and ask myself what if guns had never been invented. Would my friend still be alive. Sure the other guy could have ran and had a fist fight with the guys or even try to cut them with a knife. We might have been able to run into the club by the time the guys got near us if that had been the case. My friends and I couldn't out run a bullet no matter how fast we ran.

When I want to talk to my friend. I have to go to a grave. A grave. I can't call him up and say hi. I can't say let's go get desert or watch a movie.

I am not nieve enough to know that guns will never go away. It's like saying rapists will go away. It doesn't mean that I have to like it.

The problem is guns wind up in the hands of the wrong people. If we didn't have guns they couldn't wind up in their hands though.

My father has friends who own guns and other weapons. When his friends start pulling them out to look at, load, prepare their bullets and other things I leave the room. A friend of a friend in college was raised around guns his whole life. He pulled out a pistol one day and played with it like it was a children's toy plastic gun. I couldn't get out of the room fast enough. He almost blew off part of his foot. He was twirling it around and stuff.

While I realize some of you may be like, well tough...your friend died. They meant a lot to me. I don't expect everyone to understand. You can't understand unless you have been there. Unless you've experienced the same thing.

I would also like to note that this was not an article that ran on our front page. It was an editorial/opinion/column. Which means just that. It was my opinion. I understand you may not agree with my opinion. THAT'S OK. Can you imagine what life would be like if everyone never disagreed or had differences in opinion. When differences in opinion are expressed in a logically and rational manner new things can be established. It's called compromise. It's called seeing the other person's point of view.

I thank you for your responses. Granted, all of them were opposing mine, but I didn't expect everyone to have the same opinion as mine. But please keep in mind, it's my opinion.

Everyone in America is granted the right to voice their opinions. Whether others may think they are wrong or not. My dad, uncles and countless of his friends fought for that right in the Vietnam War. I got lucky my dad came back.

For the record....I am considered by my collegues, friends, and family a (and consider myself to be a) very open-minded person.

I thank you for your opinions and the tasteful way they were presented.

Sherry Long

*****************************************************
Both were sent and received on 3/15/2005

Typical Anti Air Head, might have as well argued to a brick wall
What Most ANTIS understands is:
Take their money,
Take their freedom,
or Take their Life.

Jugnle Work