Dear Editor,

What would you think of a school that took chalk from all the children because one young man wrote something nasty on the sidewalk with a piece of chalk? What would you think of a Principal that banned all crayons because a young man drew evil pictures on the wall of the school with a crayon? If a young person, who was challenged in some way, wrote filthy notes with his pencil, would it make sense to ban or restrict the use of pencils for all children?

All, except the insensitive, are broken hearted for the parents of those innocent children at Sandy Hook who were killed a few days ago. But, to use their tragic death to promote an agenda is not sensitivity, but using emotion and a tragedy for a political end. The very people who want armed guards for their workplace (congressional and senate chambers as well as the White House) want to deny law abiding citizens the same protection they enjoy.

I have a carry concealed license, and I often read of crimes perpetrated on others by criminals who don’t qualify for such a license. Yet, every time a criminal or a nut uses a gun to kill or commit a crime some well-meaning but misinformed person or persons want to take the gun rights away from those who don’t commit crimes.

A person who legally obtains a license to carry a gun has a criminal background check, FBI report, and has to pass a written test as well as a field test before they receive. A criminal can and will obtain a gun regardless of the laws passed. We know that by crimes committed with guns by people who obtained the gun illegally.

Illinois has a strict gun law, yet has one of the highest gun crime rates while states with carry conceal laws usually have fewer crimes involving guns. Washington D.C., where all the intelligent gun gurus reside, has the strictest gun law and has the highest crime rate per capita in the nation. Common sense would tell us that a criminal would love to know that a home owner is not allowed to have in their position what the criminal has in theirs.

It is easy to see why killers go to schools to commit such heinous crimes. Guns are not allowed in schools even for a teacher who has been tested in the use of it and is cleared to own one. Making rules to control guns does no good unless we control those who misuse them.

Abraham Lincoln told his Secret Service men “If someone wants to kill me and are willing to give their own life, you can’t stop them.” It’s true we can’t stop all killing with guns, but we surely can’t discourage it by taking guns from law abiding citizens. At what point in history did criminals begin to obey laws — laws of any kind? Will that change with a new law?

It seems we have become a nation that protects and defends the guilty and punishes the innocent. Those who are trying to pass stricter gun laws after the Sandy Hook disaster are the same ones who wanted to pass stricter gun laws before Sandy Hook. It’s not about guns for them, it’s about control. If it becomes more difficult for the innocent to defend themselves, you can be sure gun crime will increase, not decrease. The American Hunter and American Rifleman magazines have a full page in each issue of incidents where lives have been saved by home owners defending themselves. It’s not insensitive to have common sense.

Sandy Hook was an awful crime, terrible loss and heartbreak that can’t be described in words for the parents and loved one of those children who had done nothing wrong. But, let’s slow down and think. Can we protect children better in the future by restricting the freedom of those who would protect them? No! The answer is not to take chalk, crayons and pencils from those who would use them properly because a few don’t. For many politicians it’s not about guns, but about control, and they will use any tragedy to control others. A little history lesson would reveal that the Second Amendment to the Constitution was written by our founders to protect us from government as well as for self-defense.

We need to pray that God will comfort those who have lost children, but not for government control of the innocent.

Denny Coburn,

Gallipolis, Ohio