Kmart -Bad Business

To Get Your Letters Printed Here
Click here and read submission guidelines.

From: "Richard Partridge" <rlpartridge@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 22:50:10 -0600
To: <kmartccn@kmart.com>, <feedback@bluelight.com>
Cc: <letters@keepandbeararms.com>, <utgoa@yahoogroups.com>

K-Mart's decision to stop selling guns and ammunition is NOT just stupid and NOT just a bad business decision.

Our nation is under attack. It is precisely when a free nation is under attack that its citizens most need to be able to arm themselves.

So far, we have been blessed in that we have not suffered an invasion of our land and there have not been riots. But law enforcement and emergency services personnel are overwhelmed and at times unable to respond to routine calls for assistance. Dialing 911 may only bring the body bags and chalk, and the perpetrator may be brought to justice before your dead body turns to dust. In other words, people need to be able to take responsibility for themselves wherever possible. Those who choose to do so should be commended and encouraged.

The fact that a few hijackers armed only with knives and box cutters were able to murder tens of thousands of innocent people is nightmarish. I wonder that had K-Mart been around, would they have refused to sell firearms to the colonists at Lexington and Concord too. (Ironically, they're still selling knives and box cutters.)

I feel it appropriate to point out that much of the carnage that occurred yesterday could have been prevented by armed citizens, law enforcement officers, or sky marshals.

Had the passengers been taught that fighting back is the honorable and appropriate response to thugs, things would likely have turned out differently. It now appears that this is exactly what happened on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania - the passengers attempted to subdue the hijackers. They gave their lives, but prevented the deaths of countless others, and the possible destruction of Camp David, the White House or the Capitol. They upheld our proud tradition of American heroism.

Nearly 250 years ago, Benjamin Franklin wrote: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety".

Kmart has been the primary source of merchandise for me and my family. Can you assure me that I will feel justified in continuing that trust or will you continue to buckle under to those who have no concern for our rights of providing for the defense of my family, friends and community?

Sincerely,

Richard L. Partridge, LCDR, USNR (retired)