Don't just gripe. Write to The President easily
by going to www.whitehouse.gov. Each letter is
like 100,000 votes according to political
activists that I know. I sent the following
a few minutes ago:

Dear Mr. President: While I have strong respect for the office of Prsident of the United States, and while I also respect your efforts to reduce crime, I must strongly state my firm opposition as a private citizen to the ban that you have wrongly, and I believe unlawfully, placed today on the importation of certain weapons.

My objections are as follows:

- There is no statistical correlation between the availability of so-called assault weapons and crime. In fact, a recent analysis done by a responsible state legislator in, I believe, Massachusetts, showed that of over 18000 murders and suicides committed over a period of almost two decades, only about 1/3 of 1% even involved the use of the type of weapon you are attempting to ban, and that included suicides.

- The 2nd Amendment of the Constitution clearly states that the right of individuals to own and bear arms shall not be restricted, since the founders of our nation were wise enough to know that only an armed citizenry is truly a free citizenry. For this reason, I believe your actions to be unlawful per our constitution.

- You are changing the rules on your own 1994 law that you designed. This shows me positively that those that said in 1994 that we gun owners should object more strongly to the erosion of our rights at that time, were correct. We compromised, and now the compromise is no longer adequate to you. This hurts every gun owner's trust in you, Sir.

- You are capitalizing on a specific event in Arkansas that didn't even use one of these weapons, and you are riding on uninformed peoples' belief that it did.

- I like to collect and fire, under safe and responsible conditions, many types of firearms, including ones that you have included in your ban. By denying me the right to do so, you are implying that my mere ownership of those type of weapons is somehow defacto "proof" that I intend to use them in an unlawful manner. Under United States, we are supposed to be assumed innocent unless proven guilty. This "pre-conviction" is not only insulting, but also hurtful since I have NEVER broken a single law beyond the posted highway speed limit. In fact, I hold a senior and responsible position with an employer that does important work for Federal government agencies. If I cannot be "trusted" by my government, we should all be very concerned.

- Your cumulative actions show me that you are trying to eliminate over time the availability of any weapons that could be used effectievly for self-defence. That bothers me a great deal, since as you yourself have stated, the streets are not safe for normal citizens these days. Please don't tell me that more anti-gun laws will make things safer. An honest study of crime statistics will show that there is no beneficial correlation between more restrictive gun laws and reduced crime. Criminals don't care that they are breaking "more" laws by using illegal weapons. You are simply disarming honest potential victims like myself. In fact, in one of the safest nations on Earth, Switzerland, every household is required to have a fully-automatic weapon ready for defensive use. The crime problem in the United States is not caused by guns, but rather by an erosion of national character. That erosion is what we should be addressing if we honestly want to improve things.

I am hurt and disappointed by your action today, and by the unfair temporary import suspension that preceded it. I will write to my representatives in both Congress and The Senate in the hope that there will be enough outraged requests for justice, that you will be moved to change your position.

Thank you for the opportunity to voice my opinion, no, my strong belief.

Sincerely,

James Gnitecki