Letter to the Editor: Gun bans don't ensure safety

December 28, 2004
Cleveland Plain Dealer

Two Dec. 14 letters to the editor, under the headline "Bars are last place where guns should be allowed," call for a response.

Rosie Craig wrote, "If anyone is really interested in saving lives, they should join the crusade for a comprehensive nationwide, public-health policy to prevent and reduce gun violence."

Has Craig ever heard the term "dedicated assassin"? There is no stopping a person truly dedicated to shooting another individual. He will figure out in advance how to accomplish his mission.

There is no need to join the Million Mom March. "Really interested persons" should begin and continue a steady stream of mail, e-mail and phone calls to their senators and representatives demanding enforcement of laws already on the books pertaining to crimes committed with guns. Only such a crackdown and appropriate prison sentences will reduce crime.

As for John D. Ludway's description of allowing law-abiding concealed-permit holders to carry their weapons in bars as "obvious stupidity": Did it ever occur to Ludway that bars, banks and other establishments that display notices on their front doors forbidding weapons on their premises are safe havens for intended armed robbery? Robbers know that law-abiding gun owners will obey the notice, leaving these robbers unchallenged in their criminal pursuits.

John J. Myers
Medina

Related Story:
Letters: "Bars are last place where guns should be allowed"