I just read Brian Howey’s column in the Journal Review on Feb. 20 in which he decried the violence to our children by “gun violence.” I am sick and tired of that term. I am not aware of any incident where a firearm discharged itself in any manner that injured anyone. Every time in my nearly 70 years where people have been wounded or killed a person has had possession of the firearm.
Instead of blaming an object, blame the person. Instead of a pandemic of gun violence, the United States is collectively suffering a pandemic of people violence. People killing people is where our collective efforts should be focused. Personal responsibility is absent. Discipline in our public schools, in spite of the efforts of good teachers, is absent. And we collectively have bred and continue to breed a generation that has no respect for others. There are some exceptions, of course, and I thank the Lord for that but, back to the point.
Guns don’t kill people. People kill people. I know it’s a cliche but so true. I will finish with something my brother said. “I laid some of my firearms on the bed and watched them for hours. They never left the bed to kill. I wonder if I laid all of my firearms out would they riot.”
Mr. Howey, please use your platform to effect change in the minds of people and not take my guns away.
Neil Barclay
Crawfordsville
