Larry H. Mason – 1/17/07

This page was last updated on January 30, 2007.

America must disarm Iraq; Larry H. Mason; Beaver County Times; January 17, 2007.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“When the order is given – ‘Iraqis hand over your weapons’ - there will be peace, security and civility in Iraq.

“That order has not been given. That order has not been on the table of discussion or options. Disarming them has never ever been tried.

“Send 20,000 more American troops to Iraq? Yes, I agree. But first tell the Iraqis they must hand over their weapons.”

[RWC] Based on a couple of previous letters (“Use tasers instead of guns” and “Cheney: no gun control”) from 2004 and 2005 I did not critique, I believe Mr. Mason is a proponent of gun control laws.

There’s a reason the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution specifically states, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” For the most part, our founding fathers were inherently distrustful of government and the way the Constitution was written makes that clear. For example, the 10^th Amendment states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved for the States respectively, or to the people.”

Whether we like to admit it or not, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms” was specified for two reasons. The first reason was for defense of the country from foreign enemies. The second reason was to guarantee citizens could defend themselves against an unjust government.

When it comes to crimes committed with guns, one thing well-meaning people like Mr. Mason fail to consider is that the only people who will “hand over their weapons” are law abiding citizens, whether in Iraq or the U.S. Criminals will always find a way to acquire weapons. Do we want a situation in which law-abiding citizens can’t defend themselves against armed criminals?