Freedom and Gun Ownership

Robert J. Cottrol (Commentary, Nov. 7) reiterates the argument that gun ownership is necessary to defend individual freedom. Fair enough. However, I have this question for Cottrol and everyone else who parrots this argument: When are you planning to start?

Cottrol thoughtfully lays out some examples of how our freedom is being compromised daily in this country, and yet there hasn’t been a peep out of the gun lobby on any of this. What was the response to the massacre at Columbine? Calls to regulate movies--a flagrant violation of the 1st Amendment--and a bill allowing the Ten Commandments to be posted in public schools--an even more flagrant violation of the 1st Amendment. And apparently this erosion of individual liberty was perfectly acceptable to the gun lobby.

If the only freedom gun owners are willing to defend is the freedom to own guns, then what’s the point?

KURT WELDON

Winnetka

* My wife has always argued that what happened to my family in Nazi Germany could never happen here because Americans have guns and will use them to fight back. I counter that having a gun in your house increases the chances by tenfold of a family member or friend being shot. Cottrol’s article has convinced me to reconcile this dilemma.

I now think we should all own guns. But they are not to be used for day-to-day security. Instead, they should be locked away to be used only during insurrection or invasion by foreign enemies.

DAVID WILCZYNSKI

Redondo Beach