Letter to the Editor: Evil exists
BY Preston Hale, Tulsa
Sunday, January 20, 2013
1/20/13 at 7:50 AM
The Wounded Knee Massacre 122 years ago was among the first federally backed gun confiscation attempts "for the Indian's own safety and protection" in U.S. history. Of the 297 Indians killed, 200 were women and children.
Evil exists and always will. Throughout history evil people have committed evil acts. We cannot legislate "evil" into extinction. Good people will abide by the law, defective people will always find a way around it.
At the time of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, an agent from the Bureau of Indian Affairs stated: "As regards disarming the Sioux, however desirable it may appear, I consider it neither advisable nor practical. I fear ... you will succeed in disarming the friendly Indians because you can, and you will not succeed with the mob element because you cannot."
The same is true today.
The Second Amendment was written by people who fled oppressive and tyrannical regimes in Europe, and refers to the right of American citizens to be armed should such tyranny arise.
Many politicians argue that the Second Amendment does not apply to individuals. Richard Henry Lee, one of the signers to the Declaration of Independence, said: "To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." Lee was also a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and in particular the one who put forth the motion to declare independence from Great Britain.
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