The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Draft Letter Against Gun Ban

Gary L. Griffiths · January 4, 2013, 11:49 PM

Dear Senator ,

As your constituent, I am contacting you to express my opposition to any attempt to ban so-called “assault weapons” or “high-capacity” magazines. In my view, any further restrictions on the sale or possession of these items would clearly infringe our right to keep and bear arms as specified in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.

The “assault weapon” of the late 18th Century was the Brown Bess Musket. It had many of the same characteristics as modern “assault weapons” in that it wasn’t particularly useful for hunting, but was militarily advantageous because it could be loaded and fired rapidly, and could mount a bayonet for close-quarters combat. It was, unarguably, the weapon our Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment, because keeping and bearing it encouraged proficiency in its use, and gave the musket-armed militiaman parity with regular army troops.

Today, keeping and bearing an AR-15 rifle encourages proficiency which is militarily useful in case of a national emergency, and the skilled possessor of an AR-15 rifle with military-specification magazines has a large degree of parity with hostile military forces of an invading foreign government or our own government turned tyrannical. Further restrictions on its sale and possession would clearly violate the Second Amendment and would be futile in any case, since existing weapons, if well maintained, can easily be expected to last for more than a century.

Please do everything in your power to defeat “feel good” legislation that would infringe on our Second Amendment rights. Your efforts will not be unappreciated at election time.

Sincerely,

January 4, 2013, 11:49 PM	#9
Gary L. Griffiths Senior Member Join Date: April 7, 2000 Location: AZ, WA Posts: 1,466	Here's my effort Dear Senator , As your constituent, I am contacting you to express my opposition to any attempt to ban so-called “assault weapons” or “high-capacity” magazines. In my view, any further restrictions on the sale or possession of these items would clearly infringe our right to keep and bear arms as specified in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. The “assault weapon” of the late 18th Century was the Brown Bess Musket. It had many of the same characteristics as modern “assault weapons” in that it wasn’t particularly useful for hunting, but was militarily advantageous because it could be loaded and fired rapidly, and could mount a bayonet for close-quarters combat. It was, unarguably, the weapon our Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the Second Amendment, because keeping and bearing it encouraged proficiency in its use, and gave the musket-armed militiaman parity with regular army troops. Today, keeping and bearing an AR-15 rifle encourages proficiency which is militarily useful in case of a national emergency, and the skilled possessor of an AR-15 rifle with military-specification magazines has a large degree of parity with hostile military forces of an invading foreign government or our own government turned tyrannical. Further restrictions on its sale and possession would clearly violate the Second Amendment and would be futile in any case, since existing weapons, if well maintained, can easily be expected to last for more than a century. Please do everything in your power to defeat “feel good” legislation that would infringe on our Second Amendment rights. Your efforts will not be unappreciated at election time. Sincerely, __________________ Violence is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and valorous feeling which believes that nothing is worth violence is much worse. Those who have nothing for which they are willing to fight; nothing they care about more than their own craven apathy; are miserable creatures who have no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the valor of those better than themselves. Gary L. Griffiths (Paraphrasing John Stuart Mill)