Executive orders don't make us feel safe

Whether real or imagined, Americans perceive that we are living in dangerous times and must arm ourselves.

On Election Day, Nov. 4, 2008, Smith & Wesson stock, a large gun manufacturer, traded at $2.85 per share. On Election Day Nov. 6, 2012, shares closed at $9.46. Three years later on Jan. 4, 2016, those same shares closed the day at $23.28

During these past seven years of the Obama administration, there has been a continual drumbeat of limiting guns because they are the chief cause in the rise of violence in the U.S. Obviously this simplistic view is rejected by the public, which feels the need to arm themselves.

Perhaps as the year begins, it is a good time to look for other explanations as to why Americans feel it necessary to protect themselves. More finger pointing at gun owners and executive actions to curtail gun ownership by the current administration have done absolutely nothing to quell fears and reassure citizens that their government is doing all it can to "secure domestic tranquility."

Gerald Wester

Mount Prospect