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On firearms and sportsmen
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CommentDear editor, I am writing to express my extreme disappointment with an item in your Outdoors column from Feb. 2 (“Guns and the sportsman”).
As the outdoor columnist with a weekly column about sportsmen and sportsmanship, your section on guns and the sportsman was very poorly written and damaging to the sportsman/shooters’ cause. Hunting is not the only sport that uses firearms. Millions of other sportsmen and sportswomen enjoy many different forms of shooting competitions. Your statement about the guns that sportsmen don’t use shows a major lack of knowledge and responsibility to other sportsmen.
As the outdoor columnist with a weekly column about sportsmen and sportsmanship, your section on guns and the sportsman was very poorly written and damaging to the sportsman/shooters’ cause. Hunting is not the only sport that uses firearms. Millions of other sportsmen and sportswomen enjoy many different forms of shooting competitions. Your statement about the guns that sportsmen don’t use shows a major lack of knowledge and responsibility to other sportsmen.
Killer pistols, what is that about? What is a killer pistol? There are many competitors and hunters that use all types of handguns in their sports. How can a block of wood and metal be a killer anything?
Automatic military rifles have been illegal for more than 75 years for the average citizen unless he obtains special permits. With those permits, he can purchase an automatic firearm and, yes, there are automatic firearm competitions. Another sport enjoyed by sportsmen.
Automatic military rifles have been illegal for more than 75 years for the average citizen unless he obtains special permits. With those permits, he can purchase an automatic firearm and, yes, there are automatic firearm competitions. Another sport enjoyed by sportsmen.
If you are referring to how a firearm looks, why is a semiautomatic hunting rifle any different than a semiautomatic military-looking rifle? I invite you to travel to your local range at the Napa Rifle and Pistol Club and witness the military shooters competition. There a group of sportsmen and sportswomen who compete using military rifles that include semiautomatic firearms.
As a life member in the National Rifle Association, I believe any law-abiding citizen should be able to own any legal firearm he or she wishes. I am ashamed of our state’s gun laws and the politicians who think they are trying to protect us by infringing on our rights as honest citizens. They have banned firearms because of the way they look and because of media sensationalism without the benefit of knowledge and facts. Gang members and other criminals are not law-abiding citizens and no amount of lawyer speak or written law will prevent them from committing crimes, which includes gun possession.
As a life member in the National Rifle Association, I believe any law-abiding citizen should be able to own any legal firearm he or she wishes. I am ashamed of our state’s gun laws and the politicians who think they are trying to protect us by infringing on our rights as honest citizens. They have banned firearms because of the way they look and because of media sensationalism without the benefit of knowledge and facts. Gang members and other criminals are not law-abiding citizens and no amount of lawyer speak or written law will prevent them from committing crimes, which includes gun possession.
Your article speaks of personal responsibility, and I agree. People need to be responsible for their own actions, but no amount of lawmaking will make that happen. Your columnist also has a responsibility to portray knowledge and fact. Please show that when writing about firearms. Please support all facets of the shooting sports and the men and women that enjoy them.
David Martignoni / Napa
David Martignoni / Napa
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Norm wrote on Feb 15, 2007 8:37 AM:
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