Guns of old

For me the gun safety argument is not just philosophical or political, it is personal. The Newtown, Conn., school massacre brings back intense memories of guns brought to my schools by volatile gun-toters.

I remember vividly where I was as a college freshman in 1963 when I heard of President Kennedy’s being assassinated. As a young teacher, I had to comfort my students when both Martin Luther King Jr. and then Bobby Kennedy were killed in 1968. Ronald Reagan was almost killed in 1981, and the country and my students held their breaths not knowing whether his wound was life-threatening.

Recently, I was less than charitable when a neighbor cynically suggested that the federal government was behind the death of 20 young children to press for gun control. Suggestions of a government plot, black government assault helicopters or blue helmeted U.N. troops confiscating the guns of U.S. citizens are totally ludicrous.

One can reasonably champion the Second Amendment and support guns for hunting, sport and protection for law-abiding and stable citizens and still advocate some restrictions on who can buy guns, the allowable type of guns and ammunition, and passing background checks.

William Krupp

Raleigh