This is directed to you who "hate" guns and the NRA*. I dare you to read through this to prove that you are not bigoted.

What is the "GunCulture"?

I believe the true "Gun Culture" in America is on Television and in the Movies. Any reasonably open minded person who actually looks at what passes for television entertainment should be appalled at the level of bloody violence displayed every day at all hours. Moviemakers vie at pushing back the envelope on revolting graphic portrayal of butchery and displaying illicit and immoral sex as correct behavior.

No wonder the Movie and Television producers join avidly in the condemnation of the NRA. By demonizing the peaceful sport of competition shooting they can shift the blame for the deteriorating morality of America from themselves to the NRA, the GOA** and any other organization seeking only to preserve a fundamental right. Their intention is to continue to make money regardless of whether or not it destroys the future of your children. Do you actually believe Movie and Television producers care about your children more than they care about making money?

The right to enjoy the sport of competition shooting on a Sunday afternoon with friends, the sport of hunting as a game management tool, and the fundamental right of protection of self, home and family are not what is destroying America and leading the youth of America astray.

How can any reasonable minded person believe that adults who gather on a weekend at a shooting range to compare their equipment and marksmanship so affect youngsters that they want to kill their parents and classmates? How can any reasonable minded person believe that learning to use a shotgun or rifle safely and properly is so evil and destructive of morality that those who keep a gun for hunting or sport or defending their home should be called names and demonized and even prosecuted as a criminal?

The very own statistics of the FBI has clearly shown that arming citizens has reduced crime rates dramatically, particularly for confrontational crimes like mugging and rape. The statistics are absolutely irrefutable. The right to carry has reduced crime! I'll say it again, THE RIGHT TO BE ARMED HAS REDUCED CRIME! Is it the right of self defense that is destroying the morality of this country? Is it only politicians like Senators Shumer and Feinstein who have the right to defend themselves with firearms or hire ARMED GUARDS?

The same, the very same, citizens who demonize the NRA and the GOA are the people who think it is perfectly justifiable to kill unborn children. They think it is perfectly fine to kill a fully formed and developed full term baby at birth. This practice goes on under the euphemistic name of "Late Term Abortion". President Clinton found lame excuses to veto the Congress' law against this, yet he claims that guns are so dangerous to children that they must be outlawed. Is this hypocrisy? Can you really believe he was sincere?

These are also the same people who enthusiastically support the "Right of Free Speech" as a First Amendment concept. Their "Right of Free Speech" also means the "right" to show enticing immoral practices of illicit sex and horrible displays of violence using GUNS and KNIVES to children. Can any reasonable minded person not understand that this is teaching children immoral and destructive behavior?

Do you understand what DESENSITIZING is? It is a psychological term meaning that if a person views example after example of an act they would normally find repugnant their resistance will eventually break down and it will seem perfectly acceptable and even natural.

My parents wisely called it "monkey see, monkey do!

To put it simply, children learn to do what they see done every day! Without contact with responsible adults they learn from television. What are they learning? Is that what you want them to learn? What is it about this that you don't understand?

I ask you again. Who and where is the real GUN CULTURE? Is it your neighbor who owns a shotgun or rifle? Is it the fellows who enjoy the sport of competitive shooting with their friends? Is it the woman who fears for her safety and wants some measure of self protection? Did you know that the courts have ruled that no individual is entitled to protection by the Police? Yes, that is TRUE!

In Warren v. District of Columbia, the DC Court of Appeals ruled that"...(A) government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any particular individual citizen." This means the police are not responsible for the safety of the individual. That responsibility rests with the individual him/herself.

I believe that the serious problem behavior is generated by antisocial and destructive actions portrayed on Television and on the Movie screen. Since all movies eventually run on television there is an unholy alliance degrading the morality and desensitizing the viewer.

Do you really know who the NRA is? I am your friendly neighbor who works in the bank. I am the agent who handles your auto insurance or the lady who baked your wedding cake. In short, I'm just a peace loving American like you, one of a hundred million gun owners. FOUR MILLION of us belong to the NRA. Any one in the Media ever tell you that?

Think of that. Four million Americans, honest citizens, who work every day, pay taxes and of whom many are decorated Veterans who defended their, our country. I don't think we deserve being demonized by self serving politicians and their dupes. Just because some kids are driven to crazy acts by what they see on television should we be blamed? Do you really believe the politicians and the Media that your plumber or auto mechanic or Cake Lady is a gun wielding maniac NRA member?

Is that truly the American way? It is too easy to demonize quiet peaceful law-abiding people who don't fight back and blame them for the tragedies.

We lose a grasp of reality when led by the sensation seeking Media and self serving politicians, who try to portray themselves as the savior. Every firearms owner I have ever met agrees that minors MUST NOT HAVE ANY unsupervised access to firearms. Anyone who allows a felon or mentally unstable individual or a minor to possess a firearm is already breaking numerous State and Federal laws and is subject to severe penalties. Why do politicians lie and talk about needing more laws, when they aren't enforcing the ones they have already passed? Aren't you just being misled and used for your vote and influence? Are you a DUPE? It is easy enough to find out, just ask for the true facts! The firearm business is already the most legally regulated industry in the U.S. No gun can go from a manufacturer to a buyer without comprehensive legal tracking and clearance of the buyer by the FBI. This is the actual truth. Does it conflict with the lies you have heard about "gun show loopholes"? You are being lied to by politicians and the Mass Media. Why are you surprised that politicians lie?

Unfortunately, it is true that children are killed by gun accidents. The reality is that only a small handful are killed each year, lies to the contrary. What about the HUNDREDS who DROWN swimming? Many THOUSANDS are killed and mutilated in AUTO accidents! Should we ban swimming? Should we make unnecessary auto trips illegal? Why doesn't this interest the News Media? Obviously they are only interested in sensationalism. They have become part of the problem, not the solution. This is a big, active country and the magnifying glass of TV seems to make everything happen just next door. The sense of proportion is completely lost.

Ask yourself at this point, am I blindly accepting and participating in the demonizing of peaceful citizens who legitimately enjoy firearms as a sport and believe in the right of self protection? Why can't you see where the real culprits are? I think we Americans have invited the Trojan Horse into in our own living room!

And now a word from Thomas Jefferson: "False is the idea of utility ... that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; that has no remedy for evils, except destruction of liberty. The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes ... such laws serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." -- Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States writing in his 'Commonplace Book', 1775

John H Fuselier, a peaceful gun owner and NRA Life Member

*NRA, National Rifle Association,**GOA, Gun Owners of America