Letter to the Editor: 'Million' Mom's claims ''dishonesty born of desperation"

The Cleveland Free Times recently printed an anti-self-defense op-ed from Lori O'Neill, president of the "Million" Mom March's Cleveland chapter.

Unfortunately, the op-ed is not available on the Free Times' website (though we've probably heard it all before).

Click on the "Read More..." link below to view a response, written by pro-CCW supporter Chris Morton. We hope the Free Times has the courage to print it.

Dear Letters:

I was mildly entertained by Lori A. O'Neill's op-ed piece on concealed carry in Ohio. Even the title was amusing.

On Saturday, November 2nd, 2002 I was part of a counter-demonstration to a Million Mom March event. The counter demonstrators vastly outnumbered the MMM participants. Less citizen opposition simply means less citizen opposition. MMM's claims of support are, like the rest of their assertions, profoundly lacking in candor. But then one has to consult Willis Carto's Institute for Historical Review in order to receive worse disinformation on any subject than one gets from the gun control movement.

Ms. O'Neill claims that supporters of the constitution have "money and influence". We apparently don't have enough money and influence to get media outlets like CNN to fake news stories to our benefit the way MMM, Violence Policy Center and company can. But once again, we don't need to deceive to make our case.

Ms. O'Neill states: "The fact that most of them live in rural or suburban areas with little violent crime makes no difference." Let's be honest about from whence a lot of the opposition to CCW comes. They're not afraid of guns. They're afraid of non-White people... with guns. The photo which accompanied the piece speaks for itself. I'm reminded of the Black woman on the West side whose home was besieged by a mob of drunken racists. Police recordings later documented police and dispatchers joking about her peril. I'm reminded too of the criminal defense attorney friend in Chicago who told me that by his personal observation, Black people discovered carrying concealed weapons get jail time, while Whites get a warning... and their guns back. Chicago of course has a de facto handgun ban.

MMM and its cohorts view minority communities as "game preserves", with the citizens as "antelope" and violent criminals as the "lions". A certain number of antelope consumed by lions is seen as part of the natural state of things. And like the management of any game park, they would be horrified if the "antelopes" suddenly grew fangs and claws and started killing the "lions". They view people [especially non-White people] successfully resisting violent crime as "unnatural".

Ms. O'Neill's article was dishonesty born of desperation. Ohio will get concealed carry, just as so many other states have. And there's nothing that she or MMM can do about it.

Chris Morton
Rocky River