| [Ben]: | Open response to the Brady Center | Discuss This [2 comments so far] View Comments | Dear Brady Campaign,
Thank you for your email. I appreciate my feedback being solicited on this matter.
I too feel very strongly that violence is a matter that must be addressed. Unlike you, however, I do not feel that weapon-specific laws contribute to solving the problem. What is more, I believe that it is every bit as tragic when an innocent person is killed with a knife, car or baseball bat as when an innocent person is killed with a firearm. Thus, I cannot support your myopic goal of championing laws that would disarm only law-abiding citizens through prohibiting and restricting certain types of weapons. Such laws serve only to make enemies out of people who should be your friends and allies by alienating fellow citizens who seek the same goal of a safer, more peaceful society.
If the disease is violent crime, passing additional gun laws is like prescribing a drug that treats one small symptom of the disease and produces a slew of side-effects – some of which are arguably more dangerous than the symptom in the first place! In other words, your chosen technique is ineffective and counterproductive to the goal of decreasing violent crimes.
Perhaps I am simply more moderate than you, but I feel that campaigning against the NRA and the NRA campaigning against you (to carry forward the medical analogy) is like two medical students arguing about a patient and coming to blows over the treatment options. Rather than work against each other, why not work together? For instance, rather than pushing bans on “assault weapons” – weapons that were and are rarely used in crimes to begin with – that show an apparent ignorance of firearms on your part, why not work with the NRA and other, similar organizations to develop legislative strategies amenable to both sides? While you may not agree with all the NRA stands for, they are undoubtedly more of an expert when it comes to gun safety and firearms than you. Consider, you might gain the backing of the NRA if you opposed laws that do silly things like ban certain types of firearms from lawful owners and supported laws that kept violent criminals in prison or made the consequences of committing a violent crime more serious.
Alas, your focus on “gun control” and “gun violence” as opposed to crime control and violence in general has made it seem that you are not interested in stopping people from being hurt but rather using existing conditions to push an agenda that has nothing to do with violence and everything to do with control. That is an image you will have to change before you will receive any sort of support from me.
Thank you again.
Regards,
Ben Swenson
From: Stop the NRA [mailto:info@bradycampaign.org]
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 1:34 PM
To: *****@**********.com
Subject: Thank You For Your Input
Dear Ben,
Thank you for participating in our 2007 Legislative Priorities Survey, your feedback will help the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence get a strong start to the new year. We are so grateful for your support.
Capitalizing on the seismic shift on Capitol Hill, your Brady Campaign is going on the offensive to advance our legislative agenda to strengthen US gun laws. Americans are looking to us to turn our electoral victories into concrete action to get guns out of the hands of criminals.
We will succeed in this endeavor in the same way we succeeded in the 2006 elections — by bringing to the fore the voices of reliable, thoughtful Brady Campaign members like you.
Thanks to your participation, we will show that Americans like you demand that strengthening US guns laws be at the top of the congressional agenda.
Help us build on our voting majorities in both the House and Senate to pass a new ban on military-style assault weapons, closing the gun show loophole, and other life-saving gun laws by making a generous contribution today.
By working together, we can create a nation free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in their communities.
Sincerely,
Your Friends at StoptheNRA.com
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| 2007-03-21
Permanent Link:
Open response to the Brady Center |
