Using gun in self-defense not as easy as may seem
Mr. Home Invader: If you are at all politically sensitive, please allow me time to run in a panic to the bedroom, try to remember the combination or find the key to the firearm safe, run to the separate place where we store the bullets, open the box of bullets and start loading the weapon’s clip or magazine, put them in backwards with shaking hands, realize they are the wrong ones for the gun, insert the magazine anyway, and forget to rack the slide to put a bullet in the chamber until you are already confronting me, move the safety to the fire position and realize too late that I could have taken firearms training for a nominal fee. Oh – and please don’t shoot our dog. After you are gone, if I am still alive and able, we can dial 911 to file a police report and tell our security company to not come out, as it is all over. Maybe I am too dumb to own a firearm.
ROBERT REDMOND SR., CANTON
Still true that people kill, guns don’t
Jury selection in the Tex McIver case zeroed in almost immediately on the heart of McIver’s defense: that he killed his wife, Diane, because his .38 revolver fired by accident. Episode 5 of the AJC’s podcast, “Breakdown: The McIver Murder Case” (MyAJC.com, March 12) explores the issues that arose in jury selection and also sets the table for the beginning of testimony. Several prospective jurors with knowledge of guns said they just didn’t buy McIver’s claim. “It would be very unlikely to have been an accident in that situation,” said Juror 14, who said he’s been carrying a concealed weapon for 10 years. And Juror 19: “Someone’s got to pull the trigger. They don’t accidentally discharge.” Juror 56: “My opinion is Mr. McIver is guilty of killing his wife. I own 39 guns, and I know they don’t just go off.” What does that say about the media’s pitch that it’s “gun violence” that’s the problem? Has anyone at the AJC ever seen a firearm commit an act of violence? When a patrol officer pulls over a vehicle for suspicion of DUI, will he write a ticket against the vehicle?
GEORGE A. MITCHELL, BLAIRSVILLE
Trump’s overestimation of himself is risky to U.S.
In the summer of 2016, when it was beginning to look like Donald Trump would win the Republican nomination, I had several conversations with some of my Republican friends. Each of them expressed some degree of concern about his lack of foreign policy and defense experience, among others. But that would not be a problem, they said, because he will hire smart people to have around him. Well, today, not so much. The president seems to be convinced that he is, by far, the smartest person in the room. He has fired, or is considering firing, anyone who has the audacity to offer an opposing opinion and has replaced them with someone who will only say yes, no matter the consequences. The problem is that the president doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. Nothing could be more dangerous than to be surrounded by advisers who will not speak truth to power.
RAY WOOLFOLK, VILLA RICA
Although I admire the recent student protesters for their passion, they are being used by special interest groups who want to disarm the American people. These young people simply do not know yet what they do not know. Certainly there are too many firearms available to those who should have no access to them, but the criminal use of firearms is a symptom of a deeper illness that exists within our society and in our schools that will prevail regardless of the availability of firearms. I will have respect for the viewpoint of these young student protesters when they boycott violent video games and movies, dismantle the caste system in their schools that marginalize others, and disconnect from abusive social media. Until then, I will consider these protesting students to be well-meaning but still children ignorant of the real issues.
ERNEST WADE, LOGANVILLE
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