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Unfortunately, the letter to the editor by Leonard Zimmer shows a pervasive amount of ignorance far too common in our country these days. Somehow he has the idea that gun owners and the NRA are proponents of no regulations or limitations to the 2nd Amendment. This is completely false and insulting. The fact is that they have already gotten together and agreed on reasonable regulations.

The NRA and responsible gun owners are some of the strongest advocates of common sense regulations and controls. Nobody wants unlimited access to guns for every citizen of the US. That would be crazy. We simply would like law abiding citizens to be able to own whatever guns they choose. What is the harm of that if these guns are not used to commit crimes?

Mr. Zimmer thinks there are gun features, certain types of magazines and ammunition that nobody needs. He doesn't seem to realize the consequences of "regulating" these items. Making them illegal doesn't erase these items from existence. It merely takes them out of the possession of law abiding gun owners and puts them exclusively in the hands of criminals.

I would contend that if these things are available to the criminals, we would want them available to us as well. How can you adequately defend yourself when your assailant has superior fire power to you?

There's no question that gun violence is tragic and reprehensible. However, we need to deal with tragedies like these with common sense and clear minds. Reacting with strong emotions to these events is understandable, but creating laws as an emotional response is unwise and commonly results in disastrous unintended consequences. Punish the criminals, not the law abiding gun owners.[[In-content Ad]]

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