I couldn't help but laugh at the political cartoon on the Jan. 19 editorial page. The one depicting a typical macho hunter with his rifle and NRA patches standing next to his trophy heads of his congressmen. Obviously the intent of the writer was to say that this type of mentality is barbaric and unthinkable.
However it is also quite apparent that he has no knowledge of our history because if he did he would have known that this was exactly what the countries founders had intended.
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." (Thomas Jefferson.) It was further stated that it was not only a right but the duty of the citizen to be armed and to be armed equal to the military. It was these individually armed citizens coming together that formed the militias, and it was they who were ultimately in charge of defending our freedom, not the government.
To those who would willingly give up their rights with the expectation that government will protect them, well, they could be in for a rude surprise.
As Jefferson also said, "A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have."
This push to ban guns will not make us safer. Wherever they have been banned, crime has gone up. Did Prohibition get rid of alcohol? Have our drug laws cured the drug problem? Thus it is absurd to think more guns laws will somehow make us safer when all evidence is against it.
Richard Gideon
Schaumburg
