Dean Jepson: I support 2nd Amendment, but not impeding rules to protect us
To be clear, I’m a 2nd Amendment supporter, just as I support the Constitution in its entirety; particularly “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” I was raised in a hunting family, with a healthy respect for firearms.
The fearmongering by the NRA’s representatives, as well as its shilling on behalf of gun manufacturers, are making other parts of the Constitution less possible. Automatic assault-style weapons and extended magazines are made to end “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” albeit, for great profit. The vast majority of Americans understand the power of this weaponry, and the type of responsibility that should accompany its ownership.
But, once again, lawmakers are unable to follow their constituents’ wishes regarding common-sense gun control. After all, they have the NRA’s report card hanging over their heads like a guillotine. They can’t even exercise caution on the side of safety, keeping a suspected terrorist from obtaining an assault-style weapon designed to shoot through multiple bodies. Talk of taking away one’s civil rights is tragically ironic. One Amendment shouldn’t make the others impossible.
A useful organization like the NRA has become just another political lobbyist, where profits are associated with loss of life.
Dean Jepson, Turlock
This story was originally published June 21, 2016 at 1:23 PM with the headline "Dean Jepson: I support 2nd Amendment, but not impeding rules to protect us."