People talking about gun control should base what they say and propose on facts and statistics over a long period of time. If they checked those statistics, they’d find that many of the claims they use are either lies or exaggerations.
Another thing I’d have to go for is the meaning behind the proposals. I remember a conversation I once had with the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy while I was executive vice president of the National Rifle Association. I was able to talk to Sen. Kennedy thanks to my connection with Tom Costin, who is a friend of mine, and who is, like me, a former mayor of Lynn. Tom has been a friend of the Kennedys going back to (President) Jack.
Sen. Kennedy had two brothers who were shot to death, and he had strong feelings on the subject. I asked him if his goal was to ban all private ownership of firearms, and he said yes, it was.
His goal was to reduce the number of incidents that we’re reading about in the newspapers and seeing all over television.
I always want to know the intent. Is it always to reduce the number of tragedies resulting from crimes committed with people with guns? I think most honest and legitimate opposition to guns comes down to that. But there are often other reasons.
For example, there is something being proposed now that would allow a woman, let’s say, to go to the police and say she’s afraid of her husband. He has a gun in the house, he has a bad temper, etc. Under this proposal, the husband could have his gun removed from the house and kept at the station until he was investigated and the charges were found to be true or untrue. If untrue, he would get his gun back.
Proposals like this are well-meaning but they are not thought out well. In the United States, we are innocent until proven guilty. This would just be the opposite.
Another thing people have to consider is that there are far more deaths incurred by motor vehicles than firearms. Yet look at what happened in New Hampshire, where seven people — some of them former Marines (as am I) were killed, allegedly by a motorist who should have had his license suspended long before he ever got behind the wheel. Those who are concerned about (pre-emptively confiscating the guns of suspicious people), to me, have more important things to worry about, such as that.
When there’s a shooting, we use the term “gun violence.” But you never heard “motor vehicle violence.” I think that’s because people fear guns, so they use that term.
I liken it to the war on drugs. People blame everyone, but they’re not blaming the addict.
I think all of these situations — shootings, drugs, other violent crime, are the symptoms of the same problem: broken homes.
I don’t think, at least in my lifetime (I’m 88) we’ll ever see a total ban on private ownership of guns. If the extremists Democrats, the ones who want free education and all, came out with a proposal like that, they’d lose overwhelmingly.
That is not how politics works. If I were on the other side, I’d look at the statistics, all the killings, by all the people who use different kinds of guns, and chances are pretty good that it’ll come down to the same things that always contribute to juvenile delinquency, and that’s broken homes.
J.Warren Cassidy was mayor of Lynn in 1970-71. He was executive vice president of the National Rifle Association from 1986 through 1991. He was succeeded by current NRA executive Wayne LaPierre.
