"Gun Control is a BAD IDEA!"

Do you cook much? I like to cook and I sometimes try different recipes; some succeed and some fail. Sometimes I throw things together from my cabinet, just to see what happens; a little bit of "this and that"; sometimes genius, sometimes disaster! I never use combinations again once they prove themselves "icky" in a trial dish. I try to learn from my mistakes, as should we all.

Gun control and the second amendment seem to be under constant scrutiny in America today. Our Constitution is very clear in its wording about the right of private citizen to keep and bear arms. It is number two in the "Bill of Rights", which tells us how important it was to our Founding Fathers. An armed populous gives pause to an oppressive government. I own firearms, legal firearms. I don't have a police record; I've served my country with honor and I'm a respected member of my community. I don't have any medical condition which could limit my ability to properly use a firearm. It is my private right to own these weapons and it is confidential. Our state police know who have legal firearms; this is a logical policy. My mayor doesn't know who owns firearms; it's none of his business. No outside government agency outside of law enforcement should have my personal information when it comes to firearms. Yesterday, the Illinois Legislature defeated a bill which would have given the government the rights to the names of all "legal" gun owners in the state. Thank God for ethical legislators! Believe me when I say criminals don't usually carry a firearms owners identification card; THEY ARE CRIMINALS!!

Let's look at former attempts at "gun control"! In 1911, Turkey established gun control; from 1914 through 1917, 1.5 million unarmed Armenians were exterminated; gun control! In 1935, China established gun control, when the communists took power from 1948 through 1952, 20 million unarmed dissidents were rounded up and exterminated; gun control. In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control, between 1929 and 1953, 20 million unarmed political enemies were rounded up and exterminated; gun control. It is now 12 months since Australia forced its citizens to surrender their legal weapons; here are some statistics: in Victoria, homicide is up 300%, nationwide assault is up 8.6%, armed robbery is up 44%. Here is the best part; it only cost the Australian taxpayer 500 million dollars! History has shown us that gun control is a bad idea! Regulation is a good idea; we don't want criminals or mental cases to own guns! We do want responsible citizens to be able to own guns; just as Jefferson, Adams and Franklin did. It's time our legislators paid some attention to history. I would have them follow Jefferson and Adams rather than Stalin and Mao!