Readers Write: Colorado points way to easier access for guns

The Island Now

I never wanted to own a gun. In the early 1960s, when my wife and I lived on the lower East Side of Manhattan and gang violence and drugs had started to take over parts of the city, I didn’t feel the need buy a gun.

In 1966, I was stationed  at Selfridge Air Force Base, during the Detroit riots. Even though we were only 30 minutes from Detroit, their inner city violence was spreading closer and closer to our base. I still didn’t want to carry a firearm.

In the 1970s and the 1980s, I witnessed first hand, the horrors of New York City’s drug scene, it’s violence and rising crime rate. 

Our town’s impending bankruptcy symbolized New York City’s complete moral and financial breakdown. Even then, I didn’t feel the need for personal protection.

But, two years ago, at the age of 70, I changed my mind. Was it watching my neighbors, friends and patients die on  9/11? Was it seeing the kid’s faces at Columbine? Was it reading about the slaughter of unarmed solders at Fort Hood? Was it old age? Who knows? But one thing was for sure. If I ever had to step up to the plate and protect my wife, children and, now my grandchildren, I would be ready.

Our new journey started when my wife and I, two 70 year old retirees, took a gun-safety and home-security course, given by an NRA instructor. 

Our liberal friends in Great Neck and Roslyn thought that we had gone mad. Therapy, medications or institutional care, were suggested for our “irrational” behavior. 

But now in spite of all the looks and comments from most of our friends and all of our family, the NRA now has its two, oldest new members.

If you knew more about our upbringing, you would understand how unusual this behavior really was. Being born and raised in Brooklyn, in the 1940s and 1950s:

1 – Hunting consisted of throwing rocks at some stray dogs or cats.  

2 – Fishing was eating Gelfite fish during Passover.

3 – Camping was a sleep-over in my cousin’s apartment in the Bronx.

4 – The outdoors consisted of playing in the schoolyard across the street from our apartment.

5 – Every summer, our parents decided that we ought to see nature firsthand. So off we would go, packed into our 4-door, 1956 Chevy, off to a tiny bungalow in some remote town upstate. We were introduced to some ridiculous-looking plants or flowers and, in return, all we got were allergies and poison ivy!

6 – Viewing the landscape was sitting on our stoop or if you had one, climbing up onto your own fire escape.

7 – Lakes and streams? You must be kidding. The only beach we ever heard of, was “tar beach.” For all you non-inner city folks, that was the tar roof of our walk-up apartment. Believe me, you have never seen that on National Geographic.

So you now understand that, for us, guns had no recreational value what so ever and using one for protection was never even a consideration. It would have been an admission that your strength, intellect, common sense, and education all had failed you. 

“Street smarts” always kept us out of trouble. Self defense was limited to your two fists and a pair of sneakers, 

Of course, our own tough guys always defended our street against any intruder. Our front door was never locked and we certainly never had a key. 

We all knew who the troublemakers were and problems were settled between guys, families and neighborhoods. Guns, you see, were totally unnecessary in our neighborhood and should, and did, only belong in the hands of the police. Besides, they were only found in gangster movies. 9/11 changed all that.

So, there we were, two self-conscientious, retired old geezers, nervously applying for a senior-citizen discount pass at the local Nassau County rifle range. 

But now, real problems began. Attempting to fire our new 22 without hitting anyone else in the building was certainly a tactical issue. 

Just avoiding injuring ourselves became quite a challenge.

At some point it dawned on me that  I would have to actually clean my own rifle. Me? A retired dentist, clean a rifle? Every time I used it? No way. You should see me do it now.

The lessons of home security and self protection coupled with gun safety, gave us the quiet confidence that we had been looking for. 

We began to respect the “gun culture” and the Second amendment. I began to read everything I could about our country’s early history and our great constitution. 

We were also meeting some wonderful people and we began to view this “new” segment of society in a totally different way.

When Colorado’s Democratic state Sen. Angela Giron, and John Morse, president of Colorado’s state Senate sponsored and then pushed through a bill which limited some of Colorado’s long-held gun laws, the New York Times rejoiced. Any gun restrictions caused an immediate celebration. 

As Mayor Bloomberg said, guns should be permanently banned, except of course, for those armed officers defending the mayor and his own family.

But then, something amazing happened. Some local Colorado residents decided to really test our constitutional form of government. After all, the western persona historically is based on individual freedom, self reliance and independency. No one, especially the East Coast, liberal elites were going to tell these folks what to do. 

What happened was truly remarkable. They decided to try the impossible and to recall and then replace these two state senators.

The anti-gun lobby, with an initial $350,000 donation from our own Mayor Bloomberg, and a $3 million war-chest, were convinced that only their opinions counted, and they challenged the recall.

The results came in: Colorado 1, New Yorkers 0. 

The two Colorado state senators were given the boot and they were replaced by two other local Republicans. Way to go, Colorado. 

Debating the gun issue was important. But it was equally important to show everyone else that local citizens have the constitutional right, and the duty to decide for themselves how to run their own lives. It was 1776 all over again.

I ask all you anti-gun New Yorkers, one simple question: What would you do if some folks from Colorado came knocking at your door, and passed a new law permitting hunting, fishing, and camping in our own Central Park? 

I‘m sure you would not be very happy.

By the way, did you know that Illinois, home of the ultimate anti-gun advocate, Barack Obama, became the latest state to pass a concealed-carry law? 

I’ll bet many of you in New York City don’t even know what that is. But, I am sure you are against it anyway. 

Starting next year, the new law will allow workers to bring registered guns to their office parking lot. Another example of Americans deciding their own fate.  

Stephen Morris

North Hills

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