LETTERS: OPPONENTS LEAVE WRONG IMPRESSION

To the editor:

I am a former military police officer who has been around firearms my whole life. I have been collecting them since high school. I am also in favor of Proposition B.Prosecuting attorney Morley Swingle and others like to paint worst-case scenarios and then add a gun, leaving an impression of mayhem in the streets. These opponents of right to carry rely on "what ifs" to make their point. If concealed-carry truly created a Wild West environment in the states that have it, they would be quoting instances case by case.

While I would rather wear my firearm openly on my hip, thus leaving absolutely no doubt in any would-be criminal's mind that I have no intention of being a victim, current social attitudes deem this impractical.

In today's America, many people have not grown up around guns and know little if anything about them, other than the image supplied by the various media, which is rarely good. As a result, many of these individuals become paranoid and fearful in the presence of guns. On occasion, I have had house guests who have become quite nervous on discovering that I had firearms locked in the next room.

Many early gun laws in this country were not designed to prevent crime but to keep firearms out of the hands of newly freed slaves, not unlike poll taxes, which were designed to keep the freed slaves from voting. I remain weary of allowing a government official or anyone else to decide which rights I should enjoy due to my skin color, political views or the company I keep.

Mr. Swingle asks what kind of message concealed-carry would give our children. It would probably give them the impression that the world is sometimes a cruel place that at times is not fair. If we are lucky, it would impart personal responsibility and citizenship, two concepts that often tend to be lacking these days.

THOMAS E. NOLAN

Cape Girardeau