Editor:
I just finished John Morley’s Nov. 27 opinion column, “Utah Gun Advocates Up in Arms for No Good Reason.” What a disappointment.
Let me give you some background. I am not a member of the National Riffle Association and do not have a concealed weapons permit.
Morley looks like an intelligent person, but apparently he has been brainwashed by his parents, his upbringing or his education. There were many errors in his column that I would love to share.
1. There are very few security guards guarding our state government employees and buildings. It would be very easy for someone (either a disgruntled employee or a psychotic person) to do someone harm.
2. Gun advocates may over- emphasize the self-defense argument, however, it is a right that needs to exist and not be taken away.
3. It is obvious to me that a person who wanted to get a gun (whether for burglary, murder, a drive-by or he is just a bad person) would get a gun illegally and not register it (I have been offered an automatic gun for $350.00). Don’t you think a criminal has the connections or resources?
4. Morley made a statement saying that if citizens were only able to protect life, liberty and property by threatening other citizens with death, America would soon degenerate into chaos and lawlessness.
That is asinine.
Do you think the founding fathers (who Morley quotes) did not want Americans to carry arms? Anyone with half of a brain can figure out that it is for self-defense only.
It would only hurt those that are planning to hurt someone else?not Joe Citizen.
5. Morley tries to make the point that citizens like you and me have no need for a gun. He is in the minority. Others see it. I don’t know who he hangs around with, but if they share his same beliefs, he’s in the minority in this state. So, do not infringe on other people’s rights.
6. If Morley does not believe in the saying (give them an inch and they’ll take a mile), he needs to study history a little better.
7. Morley put way too much trust in the government. Do not get me wrong; it does a lot of good.
However, it also is way too big, and it would try to infringe on your rights if given the chance?which Morley obviously would not mind. Nothing like creating more jobs by putting more laws on the books. Believe it or not, there are people in government that would like to ban Morley from having a pocketknife. Wake up!
8. Whether the government is or is not engineering an armed takeover, not everyone elected into office would condone it?like Sen. Waddoups and his Smith & Wesson friends. In addition, he should know that Americans rarely go back to an old law and forfeit the new.
9. I would not trust them to save me either. However, I do not think Morley or his friends would be saved, because they are like sheep. They would be slaughtered.
10. Yes, he’s right, rifles may not protect him from a stealth bomber or tanks. However, they may from a nut.
11. The statistics he quoted from Andrew McClurg were bogus and one-sided. He obviously could have found a more accurate statistic on the other side, (or at least in the middle), but he obviously did not want to try to give both sides (bad reporting).
12. If we were allowed to carry guns, what does Morley think would have happened Sept. 11? Has he figured it out yet?
13. Last of all, had he done his research better, he would realize that even with Gov. Mike Levitt allowing state workers to carry, it is not permitted at the Olympics. Even people with concealed permits cannot go near the Olympics.
Doug Quinney, Resident, Salt Lake City