Jeremy Busto: Second Amendment integral to keeping America safe

Re “More access to guns won’t make people in France safer” (Letters, Jan. 25): Throughout history, the Second Amendment has been an integral part of our national security. Here are a couple of prime examples: During the Civil War it was said the Confederate Army wouldn’t touch Ohio because there were 25,000 registered squirrel hunters living in the state. Squirrel hunting takes high accuracy and precision, and if you can shoot a squirrel running about 25 mph, you can shoot a Confederate soldier running at no more than 10 mph.

During World War II, the Nazis and Japanese Imperialists wouldn’t invade the United States on land because they knew citizens were armed. In the words of General Isoroku Yamomoto: “You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.” Guess which countries were invaded by the Nazis? Countries with strict gun-control laws, such as Russia, Poland and France.

I also looked at the website the letter writer recommended (www.gunpolicy.org), and it looks like states like Montana and Wyoming, which have very relaxed gun laws, fared better than California in terms of gun homicides. If terrorists thought about invading the United States, Californians would be the sitting ducks.

Editor’s note: Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan invaded Ohio in July, 1863. The Union was required to detach the Seventh Michigan Cavalry and Navy gunboats on the Ohio River to capture Morgan. According to the FBI, the gun-homicide rate for California in 2011 was 7.9 per 100,000 population; Wyoming’s rate was 16.9; Montana’s 16.7 per 100,000.

This story was originally published February 2, 2015 at 2:40 PM with the headline "Jeremy Busto: Second Amendment integral to keeping America safe."