President’s proposals on guns sensible

I strongly approve of President Obama’s recommendations to address the risk of violence and gun safety. It is well past time that we have this conversation as a society about reasonable limits and harm reduction. His proposals are neither shrill nor extreme, but sadly the reaction of many has been to mischaracterize and distort them to reflect their paranoid fears of government. It wasn’t so long ago that the “America, love it or leave it” crowd criticized any who dared to question the motivations of our government when we attacked other countries or limited civil rights or free speech here in America, yet now they proudly declare that any limitations on their rights to own assault weapons, use high-capacity magazines or purchase this weaponry in the shadows of a private gun sale is an assault on their rights as Americans.

Surveys clearly show that a majority of Americans support the president’s approach on this issue, gun owners included. It is time for the people to tell the gun lobby and their legislative allies, such as Rep. Randy Hultgren, that now is when the insanity stops, now is when we decide that the Second Amendment does not trump all other parts of the Constitution, and now is when we can begin creating a safer and more inclusive America.

Peter Lopatin

Sugar Grove