Comments about ‘Gun-rights supporters are misrepresented’

Thank you, Senator Hatch, for your continued support of the second amendment!

Now, quit pandering to the likes of Edward Kennedy. ;)

We gun owners know the truth about the Second Amendment and the responsibility that accompanies it. We also realize that there exists a political clique that ardently seeks to deny us our God given rights to self defense and self preservation and this has been with us for a very long time, whether they realize it or not.

The Dred Scott decision stated that slaves weren't "persons" and therefore had no rights and the Roe v. Wade decision stated the same thing about the unborn. When the Left seeks to take away our Rights, any of them, they are saying the same thing about us!

Our Rights come from God, we lend a few to the government for our protection. When a government seeks to act in a manner that is detrimental to the Rights of its citizens then we have a Right to withhold our support, and our consent, from that government.

The government exists to protect the Rights of its citizens, and nothing more...

Once you start telling me your rights come from god you've lost me, because now you don't have to justify anything except to say 'god says so'. Senator hatch, i trust that your support for the second amendment includes support for the need for a well regulated militia, because your unqualified support for the right to bear arms shows you've determined one is necessary....

@Eddie, fortunately for you, the foundation of this country's legal framework is the acknowledgement that rights are from God directly to the people. Immutable, omniscient, not from some political hack class in Washington, DC. However, right now, we have politicians that think they are God, and are acting as dictators, if the Supreme Court holds up, many of the actions taken this last 100 days will be declared unconstititional and the banks and other industries will revert to their rightful owners.

" a fully armed, similarly equipped, population ready to spring into action being necessary for the preservation of FREEDOM, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall NOT be infringed"-- Now- 2A does not proscribe laws about the discharging of arms- but anything that restricts the purchase, owning and carrying of arms is treason. But to say, no shooting in a theater, or no criminally attacking others with guns, are good laws... But, 20,000 laws are redundant, and infringements. Simply, "hurting a person in anything other than a self-defense situation with or without weapons shall be punished by hanging" would preclude jobs to millions of worthless attorneys!

Mr. Keen,

All logical systems including our moral and legal codes start from certain postulates and develop more complex ideas from them. Take away the foundation and the justification for all that comes after falls apart. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote: "We hold these truths to be self evident, That all men are created equal, and endowed by their creator with cetain inalienable rights..." This postulate is the foundation of the United States constitution and the system of government that flows from it. If you do not agree with Mr. Jefferson's postulate, where do you think your rights come from? From the government itself? That would have the foundation of the government coming from the government, an exercise in circular logic. Not very bright.

Everyone has a right to defend themselves period.

Re: Mr Keen; please read,Marcus Tullius Cicero. He is the Father of the concept of "Natural Law", and one whom our Founding Fathers studied greatly, and drew much from. I would that he was required reading
in all our schools.

I once heard that part of the reason to allow the public to own guns is to remind the government who is really in charge. Leaving guns in the hands of the general population always leaves the possibility of a revolution when the government becomes corrupt.

I think that this was a great article.

I can't wait until the lambs lay down with the lions and we beat our weapons into plowshares.

Until then, I will be carrying a Glock G26 in a concealed holster, and those who decide to hurt myself or my family better reconsider...

Great article from Senator Hatch. He does, however, need a better proof reader. Last two sentences contradict the entire article with the word "latter" in the last sentence that should say "former". In other words, we want "an open and honest debate on these issues" (the former) and we do not want to "engage in pointless stereotypes in order to marginalize the opposition" (the latter).

Let's get the false assumptions out of the media and educate the population with facts. Only then can informed decisions be made.

I notice that in Bellingham, WA they are now debating a new law to restrict anyone from selling guns within 500 ft. of a school (from nursery school to college), as they already do with porn shops or "Gentlemen's Clubs." This is totally nonsensical, but is also typical of the anti-gun movement's efforts to marginalize guns and gun owners/users as "bad guys," who are socially unacceptable. 50 years ago, when I was a young man, just the opposite was true. Gun owners were accurately protrayed as generally responsible citizens and the "backbone of the society." What we really need today, is a large-scale PR effort that is proactive in selling that image, rather than what we usually have, which is a defensive, reactive response whenever there is a shooting, or when the anti-gun media puts out false and defamatory information. Perhaps the NRA or Gun Owners of America could start up a major, long-term, ongoing PR campaign of this type. At least some of the local media would carry it, as well as Fox News.

American guns in Mexico: Which is it--90% or 17%? Whom to believe, the Washington Post or the NRA? It's probably somewhere in the middle, and if so, is still alarming. There's absolutely no reason for any law-abiding citizen to own an assault rifle. The right to bear arms doesn't extend to bazookas or nukes, either.

To Great Article: I thought that beating plowshares into swords is something that the Bible tells us to do. From reading all of the gay marriage letters in this section, I thought Utahns want to follow the Bible in everything. Personally, I support gun rights,and I also support gay marriage, but I don't base my support for either issue based on the Bible.

Eddie Keen | 7:13 a.m.

I think the "God given rights" he's refering to are different than the ones your thinking of. I think the God given rights are the ones we would have if there were no government at all. The right to breath, the right to live, the right to be happy and take care of and even protect our families, etc.

I don't think he was talking about things the left considers when they talk about their "rights", such as the right to free medical care, unemployment benefits, free speach, etc.

I think you are talking past each other assuming your talking about the same thing.

I love to see great comments from fellow Americans! I agree with Scott- we need to strip the lies in media output. Let us infringe on the ability of "journalists" to lie by making the telling of falsity, and failing to fully report FACTS, very very personally painful and expensive- nationwide!

The Government needs to butt out of trying to control firearms. It's not going to happen! Every law abiding citizen has the right to own and carry a firearm.

We already have more firearms laws on the books than we need. Passing more idiot laws won't stop criminals.

Every time we have a new threat about firearms, gun sales increase. Crime does not increase as gun sales rise.

When will people realize that firearms have never killed anyone? Bad people are the cause of crime, not firearms.

Wake up America and take back this great country!

Gun control advocates don't understand that laws restricting law-abiding citizens' rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness do more harm to society than good. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.

Additionally, overzealous gun control backers dont understand that the Second Amendment helps ensure the preservation our other rights. Justice Joseph Story (appointed to the Supreme Court by James Madison) wrote, The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.

I support any lawmakers efforts to keep government from infringing on the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

THE SIMPLE FACT IS, WE THE PEOPLE ARE THE BOSS. ELECTED OFFICIALS ARE OUR EMPLOYEES. WE THE PEOPLE HAVE ALLOWED OUR EMPLOYEES TO RUN US. SO ALL OF OUR CIVIL RIGHTS HAVE BEEN INFRINGED UPON. WE HAVE ALLOWED LIARS, THIEVES AND TRAITORS TO BEGIN TO RULE US. IF WE ARE TO REGAIN OUR LIBERTIES WE MUST FIRE THOSE EMPLOYEES. IF IT MUST COME TO WAR, AND I DO NOT WANT US TO HAVE TO DO THIS, SO BE IT. MY OWN EMPLOYEES WHO ARE MOSTLY LEFT WING EXTREMISTS HAVE DECLARED ME A RIGHT WING EXTREMIST AND A POTENTIAL TERRORIST. ANYONE WHO AGREES WITH THIS IS ALSO DECLARED THE SAME. EVEN THOSE OF YOU WHO DO NOT AGREE BUT ARE VETERANS ARE PUT IN THE SAME CLASS. WE ARE AT WAR WHETHER YOU THINK SO OR NOT. THANK YOU! show my e-mail address if you wish. i am 74 and in bad health and will be the among the first to die with a gun in both hands and blazing.

I would like you to know what you're talking about before you comment. Citizens can't own bazookas or nukes nor should they. And ask yourself, what exactly is an "assault weapon"? It's a coined phrase in order to demonize any semi-automatic firearm in order to associate it with fully automatic firearms, which are already not available to the general populace. Beyond this, only about 2% of crimes are committed with either of these classes of firearms. So even if you could achieve preventing criminals from obtaining and using these firearms for crime through a ban would it do anything? Gun bans don't work because only those predisposed to follow the law will follow the gun ban, seeing as it is itself a law. Stop infringing the rights of law abiding citizens and actually go after those who are breaking the law. That's how to deal with crime; by dealing with the criminals.