To all my friends who see me as anti-gun, anti NRA here is a picture of my weapon, my NRA badges and medals, the extent of my ammunition and my five shot clip. The rifle is fifty-five years old and the badges almost the same.
I am not anti-gun or pro-gun, but I am pro common sense and I fail to see the need or justification for the arsenals too many Americans think they need, nor do I see a mature, civilized society having the need for its citizens to carry weapons on their person concealed or otherwise. How illogical that we need to carry a gun to protect ourselves from others carrying a gun or from our own government as some Americans seem to believe. The last time I checked it wasn’t 1786 or even 1870.
DENVER (AP) — Authorities are hunting for suspects after shooting broke out during a massive marijuana celebration in Denver, leaving two people with gunshot wounds. Ooops!
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
I am a gun owner. I own a .38 from my police days, a 12 ga. shot gun, and two .22 rifles. My son and I enjoyed going to a private range in PA to target shoot. It aways was a great father/son activity. My son still talks about it. Consider those avid legal hunters that love the sport. I do however see no reason for all these high power, large magazine assault weapons. Keep in mind that the only thing gun control will do is effect the legal gun owner. It will have NO effect on the “animals” that use them for criminal purposes. They will find underground sources for guns. I will also say that we need better background checks which will help minimize, (and I say minimize) guns being purchased by some that should not have them.
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Well said, Mr. Quinn – it is so sad and very disturbing that, on only your blog, there are so many intellectually challenged individuals arming themselves in fear of “The Government” – do they really believe that they can over-power our nation’s law enforcement people if they commit a crime? – buy as many assault rifles and ammo clips as you can afford, s**t for brains, but remember how the Boston Police, the Massachusetts State Police, the National Guard, the FBI and the ATF hunted down and killed / captured the Boston Marathon Bombers in only five days in a huge city – Quinn asked an earlier poster, “What are you going to do with all of your guns?” – if you are planning to commit a crime, you are dead meat – if you are not planning to commit a crime, and you still fear “The Government”, you are intellectually challenged and you need help – get psychiatric help immediately before you harm or kill someone and live out your life in prison.
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My weapon…as a transplanted New Yorker now living in Florida, I also have a story to tell. I never had any interest in owning a gun and hadn’t touched one since leaving the military, but having lived through the civil disorder (rioting) in the Washington Heights area in Manhattan, I got to see firsthand that you are pretty much on your own when the sh*t hits the fan. The police do a good job but they can’t be everywhere all the time. After the events of 9-11 I got the same feeling of what might happen if society was to experience a major breakdown but this time I was living in a state where owning a gun is not a high crime and concealed carry is not limited to only special people. I now own two guns for self protection only. I never intend to use them for hunting and hope I never will need them. I also carry life preservers on my boat and hope I never need them either. For the gun control crowd who argues that no one needs high capacity magazines or certain types of weapons for hunting, I say they are probably right, but what about those who buy firearms for self protection? We recently had an incident in California with a deranged person killing police officers and declaring that he was going to kill others. The pictures in the newspapers showed police officers providing protection for other officers and I didn’t see any of them carrying bolt action .22s, they all looked like assault rifles to me.
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And that’s where those weapons belong, in the hands of police officers.
Has our society deteriorated to the point where average citizens honestly believe their life and limb is at risk on a daily basis beyond the level of law and order that can be provided by law enforcement? We need to ask ourselves what makes the United States so different from say England where hand guns were banned several years ago. Are we that much more violent, insecure, or what?
Dick
Richard D Quinn
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“Has our society deteriorated to the point where average citizens honestly believe their life and limb is at risk on a daily basis beyond the level of law and order that can be provided by law enforcement?” Of course it’s not on a daily basis, but it just has to happen once.
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Correct me if I’m wrong, but were’ nt they chasing a ex-police officer and ex military man. Oh they never snap and they are all perfect too. How about Katrina, or super storm Sandy? What was the responce time to a 911 call in the aftermath of those storms? The nearest state police barracks to my home is over 19 miles away. How long is that responce time? If you want to put all your faith and trust into the government, then so be it. I prefer to take care of myself and my family and not rely on anyone to protect me and my family. Was’nt the useless ball in cast away named Wilson?
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Dick, it Looks like you have a nice squirrel gun there.Quite a bit different than the M 16 I used to carry when I served in the 101 Airborne in VietNam. I still fail to see the need for people to have assault weapons here. Perhaps people feel that if the govt gets too involved they will not stop there?
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It is obvious we will never see eye to eye on this issue. I do enjoy this banter with you though. Plinking tin cans with a .bolt-action 22 is neat. Obviously it is not a defensive weapon. I hope you never have to use this in your defense – by the time you find the case and set up and load the rifle the threat will have died laughing or moved down the block. Nice walnut stock on the rifle though. A keepsake of sorts.
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