Liberal Seattle Times columnist Jerry Large ignited a firestorm with his suggestion that it is time to repeal the Second Amendment as the mechanism to reduce violent crime following three fatal shootings in the city in recent days.
Seattle Times readers did not react too well, and as the column gets wider readership on some of the gun forums, the backlash is building.
While Large intimates that having more guns lays the groundwork for more violence, his remarks come on the heels of the 143rd National Rifle Association convention, which attracted more than 75,000 people. Strolling the aisles of the exhibit hall were lots of people who were either openly carrying handguns, or concealing them not so well. Indiana recognizes carry licenses from other states, and activists attending the gathering took the opportunity to carry in Indianapolis on their own permits.
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There were no shootings, accidental or deliberate, and the entire city seemed well-behaved for the whole weekend.
Likewise, the combined attendance at two gun shows – one in Puyallup and the other at the Tacoma Dome – was estimated at about 10,000 firearms enthusiasts, with no reported incidents. There were guns all over the place.
Large evidently misses the point that guns in the wrong hands are a problem, but in the right hands they pose no threat at all to public safety. Slayings in Seattle, or Chicago or any other city seem to increasingly involve people who should not have guns, either because they are too young to legally carry, or because felonious backgrounds prohibit them under existing law from having guns.
These are not people worth dismissing an important tenet of the Bill of Rights, according to firearms activists, and they contribute to an environment of danger that compels law-abiding citizens to arm up just for their own personal protection.
For more, read the Seattle Gun Rights Examiner.
