I read some half-wit's guest column in the "letters to the editor" section of the Newark Advocate, and couldn't resist a retort....
Here's his crapola:
www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050809/OPINION02/508090327/1014/NEWS17Typical liberal spew about the evil republicans protecting gun owners.
I wrote a letter and they gave me the guest columnist spot today to reply. Oddly, the only editing they did to my letter was to punctuate it so that there are now several run-on sentences. Ugh, I hate that, but at least they didn't change anything. Here tis:
Gun ownership a fundamental right guaranteed to Americans
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In his Aug. 9 column, Newark resident Rick Bolton cried foul that the GOP has, with the help and urging of the NRA, usurped the power of judges to decide law by granting firearms manufacturers immunity from frivolous lawsuits that blame the manufacturer for the misdeeds of people who use their products. I wonder several things in reading Mr. Bolton's assessment of the situation.
Does Mr. Bolton realize that Congress creates the laws by which the judges must interpret and apply to render verdicts? Let me check my U.S. Government 101. Yes, that's it. The legislative branch creates laws; the judicial branch interprets laws. The Congress is not taking power away from the judges, but merely creating law by which a judge has a clearer understanding of how he or she may render a verdict. This process has been happening in our government since, oh, 1776 or thereabouts.
Secondly, the law in question is long overdue and just. Gun makers should not be held liable for people who use their legal products to harm or injure, no more than Budweiser should be made to be liable for people who drink and drive, or Chevy for providing them the car, or Mr. Bolton for paying taxes to create the roads on which they drove. This dangerous blame game could and would seriously hamper industry, and I applaud the Republican leadership (and some Democrats) for making it happen. This bill does not shield gun makers in any way from making dangerous or defective merchandise. It protects from anti-gun lawyers who wish to sue the firearms industry out of existence when their attempts at banning guns fail, which has been a very open goal of groups such as the Violence Policy Center and their ilk.
Lastly, to clear up another one of Mr. Bolton's completely erroneous claims about the meaning of the Second Amendment, he said that "We are long past depending on militia armies to provide our security. The right the amendment was enacted to provide was not self-protection, as the NRA and their groupies claim."
Nothing could be farther from the truth. In the Federalist Papers, the state debates before ratifying the constitution, and in hundreds upon hundreds of personal papers, writings and public opinions of our founding fathers, it was crystal clear that the purpose of the Second Amendment was for the citizens, the "people" mentioned in the second, to retain military arms not only for the protection of the country, but for the defense of their lives and property from governmental tyranny, both foreign and domestic. Any musings to the contrary are fantasy, or come from a bold revisionist who has neither read the Federalist Papers or any history of this country.
Let me quote someone I respect: "Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence. ... From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove that to insure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable. ... The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference. ... They deserve a place of honor with all that is good" -- George Washington.
Craig Gibson lives in Granville.