To the Editor:

I like guns as much as anyone. I was the machine gunner for my platoon. I had a .50 cal., M-60 and a M-16A2 and I loved shooting them, but as a civilian I understand first hand why that kind of weaponry has no place in society. I know gun enthusiasts try to justify owning assault weapons but if you make it easy for law abiding citizen to get them what’s stopping criminals from getting them too? It just becomes an arms race where tens of thousands of lives are loss yearly to support some mentally ill philosophy of gun ownership. So are we really exercising our constitutional right to bear arms or are some just abusing that right for profit and recreation? Because that is not responsible citizenship.
Doing something just because you can despite the consequences isn’t being responsible. It’s a selfish abuse of your rights at the expense of others. That is not what the second amendment is about or what it was intended for You don’t need a gun that fires 30 rounds a second for any reason unless you’re hunting Godzilla or velociraptors. The last time I checked there weren’t any! So if the N.R.A. believes responsible gun control revolves primarily around preventing the mentally ill from having guns then they should be who are the main reason criminals and crazies get their hands on assault weapons in the first place.

Chris Murray
Madison
Hand-delivered

Printed in the February 7, 2013 edition

To the Editor:

The Caring Place, Morgan County’s local food bank issues a big thank you to the Sportsman’s Pantry for the donation of 800 pounds of ground venison during the recently completed deer season. This lean ground meat was distributed to those in need in Morgan County.
Sportsman’s Pantry is a 2-year-old program created to provide a means for
hunters to donate a field-dressed deer they do not need to a local processor who for a minimal fee packages the venison and contacts a local charity to pick up and distribute.
Local hunters, local processor, and valuable food for local residents in need. A simple, but efficient, way to help our neighbors.
One of the sponsors of the Sportsman’s Pantry is Georgia Outdoor News located on Seven Islands Road in Madison.

Ron Milton
Buckhead
Via e-mail

Printed in the February 7, 2013 edition

To the Editor:

A Rockdale County funeral director is facing a lawsuit in a dispute over a headstone. A Morgan County family claims George W. Levett Jr. of Levett Funeral Home in Rockdale County made a mistake on the headstone and refuses to fix it.
Bennie Lee Clark's family is embroiled in a heated battle with newly-elected Rockdale County coroner George W. Levett Jr. There is no headstone on Mr. Clark's grave at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery in Rutledge.
Mr. Levett sold the family a double headstone after Mr. Clark's death in February 2011. It was to be engraved with the names of Mr. Clark and his wife, Josey, who plans to be buried beside her husband in the family plot one day.
Josey and her children claim that Levett made a mistake on the headstone order, inscribing Mr. Clark's name on the wrong side. When the family asked Levett to fix it, he offered to dig up Mr. Clark's remains and move him to the side of the headstone bearing his name.
The family is outraged, with his suggestion. Levett told FOX 5 in a phone interview that no mistake was made on his part that the headstone was engraved as ordered.
The Clark family has filed suit for the $700 headstone they paid. The family says it's not about the money, it's the principle. My family, don't want to be burdened with this when you have lost a loved one. The Clark family is eager for their day in court.

Jestine Salter
Conyers
Via e-mail

Editor’s Note: Much of this was taken from a news report by FOX 5 found at myfoxatlanta.com.

Printed in the January 31, 2013 edition

To the Editor:

Since the 2004 expiration of the previous semi-automatic ban, gun ownership has increased significantly and is now at its highest rate in almost 20 years, while gun violence has dropped just as significantly with gun murders down 75 percent since 1980.  This supports the controversial but empirically supported idea that legal gun ownership may reduce gun crime.
There seems to be an unwillingness of many to address the real purpose of the Second Amendment.  Gun ban supporters often ask, "Why do you need an extended magazine to hunt deer?" and this may sound like a reasonable question, especially to those who consider hunting and self-defense the only legitimate use of firearms.  But the Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunting.  It's not even clear from the legislative history that it has anything to do with self-protection.  The purpose of the Second Amendment has always been to secure for the People the means to struggle against tyranny.  It flowed directly from the English experience in which local militias were used by the King to enforce undemocratic and oppressive rule. This seems like an extreme concept for some Americans, but this is our history.  And history is replete with examples of the oppression of people who couldn't defend themselves.  Tyranny does not characterize our government now, and hopefully it never will.  The Second Amendment is in place to guarantee our people that they have the means to struggle for their liberty again, if, God forbid, we ever need to.
Molon Labe!

Aubie Knight
Madison
Via e-mail

Printed in the January 31, 2013 edition

To the Editor:
 
In regard to Celia Murray’s column about the debt ceiling, on this issue I agree with Senator Barack Obama who, on March 16, 2006, said:
“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. . . It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.”
“This year, the Federal Government will spend . . . more money to pay interest on our national debt than we'll spend on Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. That is more money to pay interest on our debt this year than we will spend on education, homeland security, transportation, and veterans benefits combined. .  . “
“[I]t took 42 Presidents 224 years to run up only $1 trillion of foreign-held debt. This administration did more than that in just five years . . .”
“Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.”
“I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit.”
To paraphrase Ms. Murray, it does appear that the Democrats have a different set of rules when a Democrat is in the White House. I believe that is called “hypocrisy.”
http://www.mrbatten.com/Pages/HypocrisyinAction.aspx
 
George Batten
Madison
Via e-mail

Printed in the January 31, 2013 edition

Having procrastinated until the very last minute, Congress finally did address the “fiscal cliff,” although in a short-term and unsatisfactory manner. Now, the country faces another crisis of Washington’s making – the nation’s debt ceiling.
Let’s be very clear – raising the debt ceiling has absolutely nothing to do with spending. Congress already voted to spend the money. Raising the debt ceiling merely allows the country to borrow money to pay bills already incurred. And that we must do. As President Obama said recently, “The issue here is whether or not America pays its bills. We are not a deadbeat nation.”
So what do Republican lawmakers say about the debt ceiling?
• Speaker John Boehner: Failure to raise the debt ceiling "would be a financial disaster, not only for our country but for the worldwide economy."
• Paul Ryan: "Obviously, you can’t default. You can't not raise the debt ceiling."
• Lindsey Graham: "Let me tell you what's involved if we don't lift the debt ceiling: financial collapse and calamity throughout the world.”
Now, GOP leaders threaten to hold hostage the nation’s ability to pay its bills. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell boasted in August 2011, "I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you might take a chance at shooting," he said. "Most of us didn't think that. What we did learn is this – it's a hostage that's worth ransoming."