Imagine someone writing a letter to the editor of their local newspaper advocating for literacy tests for people before they would be allowed to vote.
Or submitting a letter advocating Americans be required to take a religious test before they would be allowed to choose their house of worship?
Anyone advocating either of the above would be written off as a kooky moonbat, or a racist lunatic.
“Better to be thought an idiot than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”
One village rocket surgeon opened his mouth in New York State – or more accurately, put pen to paper and removed all doubt of his paper-thin intellectual depth as his local newspaper published his ill-considered suggestion.
Require gun owners to take safety tests
Posted on September 14, 2014 | By Letters to the editor | Times-UnionThese days, there are a lot of arguments regarding gun control, including whether people should use guns or even be able to own them.
While I agree guns are dangerous and, in the wrong hands, can be seriously threatening, I like to think of it like this: When a car crashes into a person, we don’t blame the car, we blame the driver. When a person abuses his or her right to own a car (drunken driving, moving violation, etc.), he or she may lose the right to drive. Why not look at gun control similarly?
I am not a gun owner, but I have friends who are, and they are in favor of a solution like this. In order to legally drive a car, one must first get a learner’s permit before getting a license; this process can take several months to a year, but the result is often a responsible driver.
By making gun owners take safety tests and mental health exams, we might see some more responsible gun owners, and people who could be a threat with a gun might be turned off, because it wouldn’t be that easy. This proposed system wouldn’t stop people from misusing guns. But I believe it would produce safer gun owners, and potentially bring down the number of death by firearms.
Samuel David Quinones
West Sand Lake, NY
Maybe we should do the same with voters, Samuel.
Ditto for people considering conceiving a child. Parenting tests and mental health exams, perhaps, Mr. Quinones?
It’s pretty evident Mr. Quinones was sound asleep in history class, or perhaps was skipping a lot of school to work on his physics doctoral thesis.
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