An Open Letter to America:                                                                        12/16/2012

When a man enters a building with a gun and starts shooting innocent people the first thing the frightened and defenseless people do is call 911 for help. The person answering the call quickly sends men and women with guns to come and save them. How is it then that the gun is blamed for the crime? The gun is nothing more than a tool. In the hands of a deranged person the gun is dangerous and can cause death and destruction. In the hands of a stable competent person the gun is protective and can swiftly end an attacker's assault.

The real problem is deranged people. So, if we are going to ban something we should ban deranged people. This, of course, is not possible, but at least we would be focused on the real source of the problem.

A gun is not good or bad, it is inanimate. The person holding the gun is responsible for whether the gun is used for good or evil. By banning guns the only thing we will accomplish is insuring fewer good guys have guns. The bad guys will always find ways to get guns.

Even if we could rid the world of guns, do you believe that would stop deranged people from killing?  Was there peace and harmony prior to the invention of the gun? Hardly; mankind has been killing each other from the beginning of time. The weapon has never been the problem. The weapon can be used to maim and kill or protect and save. Man is always the source of the action, not the weapon.

In China, a deranged man slashed 22 school children with a knife; there has been several of these stabbings recently. Would banning knives stop these deranged people from acting irrational and dangerously? No, deranged people intent on harming others will use whatever is available to them. If deranged people start running their victims over with cars will we then hear a cry for banning cars?

No matter what society does, there will always be deranged people who act in ways we find horrifying and inexplicable.

These senseless and highly emotional murders motivate us to want to 'do something'. Let's not make matters worse by taking guns out of the hands of people who are already on site, or could be, and capable of stopping a deranged person who has decided to kill innocent people.

Respectfully,

Steve MacFarlane Veyo, Utah