First Letter to the State............
Well typicaly, I try to not get too involved in politics, and I don't generaly care to speak to any elected officials out side of my town. But my first letter to the state went like this,
Critique away, thank god for spell check:
To the honorable Judicuary Commity members,
My name is XXXXXXXXXX, I live in XXXXXX Ma. I want to thank each of you in advance for taking the time to read the following letter, and will try to keep this as breif as possible, where I know your time is valuable.
Several days ago, our Govenor, Mr. Patrick rolled out a new piece of legislation for consideration he would like to have made into law here in Massachusetts. In my humble opinion, this legislation he is having considered by you is not effective, nor is it going to help reduce violence with regards to criminals having guns, or violent crime in general. It simply places more restrictions on those of us, who are law abiding, and rightful owners of firearms. We, who either collect firearms, as a hobby, hunt for sport and food, carry on family traditions as father/mother and son/daughter target shooting, where this has been happening since cave man days, starting with the spear and to today with .22lr rifles and pistols. Then you have those who have them for self defense, against those who, could care less about any law or regulation you pass. If you restrict lawful use of firearms into oblivian, as it is becoming in Massachusetts, then you, our legislators, our state government, are handing us over to the criminals willingly like lambs to the slaughter, you will have handed us over to be hurt, raped, harrassed, and murdered.We will have no recourse but to sucumb to a criminal eventually. The police officers in this state, are overwhelmed, and with the current economic crisis, are severly understaffed. My city alone is understaffed in just officers by at least 25%. They do work hard, and I am very proud of my police department, considering all the cuts they have had to endure over the years, and all the activity they are faced with daily, between the drug dealers, domestic violence, prostitutes, and other felonies that happen. I cringe at the thought, that the people we elected to office, and trust to do the right thing for the people, to use common sense when creating laws and regulations, are willing to put not only my life and that of my family, but the lives of their own families in the hands of those who are willing to hurt,rape, and kill, just to ride a political wave, or get re-elected, or because they fear what they do not fully comprehend.
I don't want to come off preachy, but this legislation Mr. Patrick is proposing, is nothing more than more restrictions on top of some of the most oppresive laws already created. After you meet the criteria for the MGL's, then you also need to meet the criteria for the Massachusetts Attorney Generals regulations. You see Massachusetts has some of the most convaluted and diffucult to understand firearms laws and regulations in the country. Some laws even contradict each other, if you read them in their entire text, and in literal form, no matter what you are doing you are breaking the law. We need to enforce the several dozen laws we have on the books already, with regards to criminals and illegal firearms. We also need to go back, and change the laws we have for lawful gun owners so they will have the laws and tools to be able to help stave off crime against themselves, so they can protect the ones we care so deeply for. Their is an old motto out their, and it is sad, but so true " Remeber, when every second counts, the police are 15 min away." Yes, in most cases, that is the average responce time, and that is not the officers fault.
If you will, please don't vote in favor of this legislation, it only hurts those of us who try so hard to do the right thing everyday, it hurts you, and your family as well. All of the legislation that gets passed, against lawful firearms use and ownership, always has the undertone, and sometimes like the Attorney Generals rediculous regulations, " Do it for the children". Well I choose to involve firearms in my life and home, for fun while target shooting, and for protection, and I do it " For my childern". I am a loving husband, father and uncle, and want to be able to have fun with them and protect them with every tool I can,the best way I can, because it is the right thing to do.
I will hope you reject Mr. Patricks legislation, and look at another piece of legislation, that makes so much more sense, and helps to define and champion honest, common sense, and easy to follow laws for all citizens of Massachusetts. It is the Civil Rights & Public Safety Act Bill # H2259. This legislation, to me makes sense, and has all the tools we need to enact as the President said in his speeches, "common sense gun laws". This legislation, can be some of the " Change" our state needs. We can be pioneers in the winds of change, where the citizens deserve better, for all our hard work.
Thank you for your time, have a great day!
Sincerly,
XXXXXXXXXXXXX