Ironies of "Cease Fire"
From: SLangner@keepandbeararms.com
Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 10:57:53 EDT
To: nbrodeur@seattletimes.com
Subject: Ironies of "Cease Fire"
Dear Ms. Brodeur:
In your 10/21/01 column, published in the Seattle Times, your first line states:
"The slaying of Tom Wales is replete
with ironies."
You listed a number of ironies in
your column. However, in my opinion, there is an even more significant irony
- that he was president of the anti-gun-violence group Washington Cease Fire.
Why? The name "Cease Fire"
implies an action that must be taken by a person. However, the organization
is affiliated with the Violence Policy Center, which places the blame on firearms,
inanimate objects. Irony? Yes. In and of themselves, firearms are incapable
of firing themselves. It takes a person to pull the trigger. The Violence Policy
Center, as a suggested strategy, does nothing to suggest how it can convince
people to stop pulling triggers. Instead, the VPC strategy is centered around
making guns "more safe." (http://www.vpc.org/studies/cfstrat.htm)
Yeah, right.
Guns were not conceived and designed for use on paper or other targets used
in shooting or skeet ranges. Guns were not conceived and designed to make hunting
for food easier. Guns were conceived and designed to be used as tools in war,
in essence, to kill, injure, or otherwise incapacitate the enemy. By doing so,
the soldier using his firearm(s) does what he can to protect his life and the
lives of those with whom he serves.
The Second Amendment to The Constitution of the United States ( A well regulated
militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people,
to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. ) implies the same thing. Paper
and otherwise inanimate objects are not a threat to the security of a free state,
nor are animals. Only people can be a threat to the security of a free state,
whether that "free state" is the Union's freedom from would-be conquerors
or the citizen's "free state (of mind)," free from being illegally
deprived of life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness.
My handy-dandy dictionary, The American Heritage Dictionary (based on the second
college edition) defines "irony" as follows:
1. The use of words to convey the opposite
of their literal meaning.
2. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs.
The Violence Policy Center is the
epitome of the second definition.
Sincerely,
Steven Langner
Bedford Hts., OH
SLangner@keepandbeararms.com
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