Letter to the Editor: Pepper ball guns are no threat to society

Saturday, September 13, 2003
Cincinnati Enquirer

What in the world is wrong with our police officers ("Police concerned over
civilian pepper guns," Sept. 10)? I have been firing handguns and long guns
since I was around 10 years old and am now 70. I have yet to see a handgun
that looks like the pepper ball gun, and so what if it does? I think it
looks more like a paint ball gun.

I don't believe officers will be shot with a pepper ball gun because the bad
guys will still continue to carry the real thing. The police officer stated
that a burglar with a real firearm might shoot a homeowner brandishing a
pepper ball gun. This sounds like an even better reason to have a real
weapon close at hand. Is this reluctance to have armed, law-abiding citizens
the result of a good ole boy macho network?

Surely our street officers have figured out by now that it's the bad guys,
the ones who do not respect any law that are a threat to them and not the
law-abiding citizens.

Gerald Wheeler
Mount Washington

Click here to read the letter in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Related Story:
Cincy Police: When we say we want you defenseless, we mean DEFENSELESS

UPDATE: An astute OFCC supporter has forwarded a Sept. 16 story from the Washington Post, which shows how inadequate pepperball guns can be in stopping someone intent on harming an innocent person.

Ohioans should not have to be forced to carry a rock in a sock under their seat (as one woman who tested the pepperball gun in Cincinnati said she does) if they wish to to protect themselves from violent attack. Nor should their Constitutional right to bear arms for self-defense be so infringed that they are forced to depend on technology that is proven to be inadequate for stopping threats, such as pepper spray, pepperball guns, or stun guns.