Where does it stop on arming ourselves?

Regarding Mr. Gideon’s letter of Aug. 2, wow! Where do I begin?

1. The Founding Fathers didn’t want the entire citizenry to be armed to protect themselves from their elected officials. The very idea is absurd because what Mr. Gideon is suggesting is that the Founders wanted everyone ready to dump the Constitution, overthrow the elected government and replace it with people who the armed mobs preferred. The real reason is not so sinister. The Founders needed armed folks to stand up and fight those British scalawags.

2. Conspiracy theorists should realize that we live in a republic where our vote is a more potent weapon than an AR-15 and “majority rules” is better ammunition than bullets. And neither kills.

3. The “I need to pack lots of firepower” argument is another absurdity in a letter full of absurdities. A group of guys walking down a street intending to do harm isn’t nearly as dangerous as a guy who can murder 26 at Sandy Hook Elementary in a matter of seconds. Mr. Gideon says we shouldn’t trust our elected officials, yet he wants us to trust and protect the rights of people like this murderer so he could have his very own AR-15. And apparently, it’s none of our business what he does with it.

4. Question: How do the rest of us know that you guys with your assault weapons aren’t arming yourselves so you can take over the country and wipe out the folks who are on your conspiracy lists? The next thing you know, there will be people arming themselves because they’ll perceive you as the bad guys. Conspiracy theorists really have no problem revising history and ignoring the facts. They have to in order to feed their delusions and spread their paranoia.

Len Brauer

Palatine