Letter to the Editor: Not looking to play pseudo-cops, robbers

January 5, 2005
Cleaveland Plain Dealer

In response to John J. Myers' Dec. 28 letter, "Gun bans don't ensure safety":

I must speak out on behalf of gun owners who are not vigilantes waiting for the opportunity to pull our weapons out and shoot potential criminals. In places such as bars and banks, which often leave people tightly packed into a small space, the last thing that I want is to be caught in a crossfire between a robber and some NRA member with a concealed-carry permit who has never fired his gun outside of a shooting range.

Christopher A. Gray
Lakewood

Commentary:
Readers who review Mr. Myers' letter, entitled "Gun bans don't ensure safety", will quickly realize his letter was anything but an advocation of vigilateism.

But then people like the above letter-writer aren't known for being able to have a factual debate on this issue.

For instance, we're quite certain Gray hasn't bothered to check on whether these phantom shootouts between robbers and CHL-holders are occurring in other states (they are not).

Should Gray really be purporting to speak for ANY gun owners, when he thinks it a bad thing for someone to lack experience in firing a gun outside of a range situation? That same description would certainly fit the vast majority of our nation's police officers.

Once again, the only defense against the logic of allowing citizens their right to bear arms for self-defense comes in the form of baseless "what-if" scenarios that have no basis in the experience of other states which have more tolerant concealed carry laws.