The meaning of 'infringe'
Once again, for those Second Amendment snivelers who responded to Inga Barks' Jan. 28 column, "Long-gun ban only threatens our free speech rights," in the Feb. 1 Letters section:
"Infringe (verb): Act so as to limit or undermine (something); encroach on. 'Infringe on his privacy.'"
So those bombasts who start sentences with "I don't want to infringe on anyone's rights, but ..." are doing exactly that.
Some other indisputable facts that freedom haters love to dispute:
* Cops can't protect you from crime, but packing iron might. It ain't a guarantee, but having a gun offers more opportunity to successfully defend yourself and loved ones than the lack of one does.
* The urban myth of a crime victim being injured or killed with his own weapon is exactly that; armed victims come out of violent confrontations much more successfully than unarmed ones. Check the Net; it's a fact.
* Random violent crime always declines in open-carry societies, and open-carry individuals are much less likely to be accosted than unarmed victims. Think about it; would you screw with an obviously armed citizen?
* Ample laws already exist to deal with folks that misuse guns. If you don't like seeing 'em, tough; you oughta cowboy up and get a life.
* And finally, guns protect citizens from tyrannical governments and from tyrannical majorities -- exactly as the Founding Fathers intended.
So what part of "shall not be infringed" confuses these letter writers?
Barry Hanson
Bakersfield
