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6A Daily News – Thursday, August 2, 2012 Opinion DAILYNEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer's home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 I also believe in gun control differs markedly from that of Ms. Tina Dupuy as related by her in her column in the May 24 Daily News. To me, proper gun control is being able to handle my firearm in such a manner so as to be able to hit my intended target. This being the United States of America, under God, Ms. Dupuy is clearly allowed to hold any opinion she wishes on any issue, including the firearms issue. She is guaran- teed the right to express those opinions under the terms of our U.S. Constitution. However, when she is as clearly misin- formed as her writings indicate, or she intentionally trying to misinform her readers by the many factual errors and omis- sions in her article, I believe some comments to set the record straight are in order. First, Ms. Dupuy is correct as to the inclusion of the term "well regulated militia" in the 2nd Amendment of our Consti- tution. What she fails to take note of is what that meant to the men who drafted the document in the latter years of the 18th Century. Any learned research will disclose "well regulated," as used in that era, pertained to being properly trained and equipped. Every adult male from late teens to 40 or 50 years of age, definitions varied, was automat- ically a member of the Militia and was expected to appear, properly armed and equipped, for required training sessions and when called out to serve in any emergency. My definition of gun control Founding Fathers was the inter- nal fear of a large standing army. The establishment of a militia of citizen soldiers was a natural progression of the Min- uteman. and the public safety committees of our Revolution- ary War. One of the great fears of our The 2nd Amendment did not establish the right to "Bear Arms." It merely set out, in writing, a long standing right well understood throughout the Colonies under English Com- mon Law. Free men were expected to be armed. It was the norm in most places. Ms. Dupuy clearly ignores one major fact: The first major conflict of our Revolutionary War was the result of the British Army marching out of Boston to seize a cache of arms the colonists had at Concord. It sounds like she would be in favor of our own government doing the same thing. Ms. Dupuy's anti-hunting sentiment comes through loud and clear in her statement our firearms rights were passed down by our forefathers to "obliterate game." In the history of the USA not one single species of wildlife has ever been brought to extinction by the activity of sport hunters. On the contrary, sport hunters have contributed the overwhelming majority of all the funds that have gone to protect and enhance wildlife populations in the US for more than 100 years now. Many species are more numerous today than they were 100 years ago. Whitetail deer and wild turkeys are two which come to mind. the fact the NRA did not men- tion the 2nd Amendment in their goals and programs until some 100 years after they were founded. This is not entirely true. The NRA was founded after the Civil War by a group of national leaders including sev- eral prominent generals of the US Army who served in the Civil War. Ms. Dupuy makes much of The 2nd Amendment provid- ed the basic building blocks for the founding of the NRA. One of the primary goals of the NRA at that time was to encourage and teach marksmanship skills to our citizens. During the Civil War it had become obvious that many Union Soldiers, especially draftees from the cities, did not know how to shoot their rifle, or in many cases even how to load it. wars, large and small, since that time, it has been proven many times over that a young man who goes into the military with an already well grounded skill in marksmanship and hunting makes a better and more effec- tive combat soldier and even has a better chance of survival in combat. That is still true today. Another factor on this ques- tion which Ms. Dupuy fails to acknowledge is that prior to the period she mentions, roughly the 1970s and the aftermath of the Vietnam War, there was not any large scale and concerted effort to disavow the 2nd Amendment. The leadership and many individual members of both major political parties were pro-firearms. Throughout our and large, fully supported WWII and the Korean War. l am unaware of any 20th Century president, up through Nixon, who expressed any serious desire to disarm honest Ameri- can citizens. I wonder if Ms. Dupuy is The American citizenry, by aware John F. Kennedy was a Life Member of the NRA? For reasons I still do not fully understand, major segments of the Democratic Party took a rather sharp turn to move much further left along in that 1970s era. For example, here in Cali- fornia, Gov. Pat Brown was an avowed hunting and firearms enthusiast. This did not fully rub off on his son and our cur- rent Gov. Jerry Brown. Ms. Dupuy takes to task a Mr. Pat Flynn, of Nebraska, for Guest View Walt Mansell his comments that we really need our guns to protect our- selves from our own govern- ments. When we have people in power like Mr. Obama, Ms. Clin- ton, Ms. Feinstein and their allies who open- ly advocate disarming the American people and who are working very hard to abrogate our Con- stitution in favor of some One World UN Initiative that would place us on par with Chad and Somalia and dozens of third world dictatorships, then I know many millions of honest Ameri- can citizens and gun owners are very willing to stand with Mr. Flynn. There are several other facets of Ms. Dupuy's writings that will not stand under the full light of day. But we will men- tion only one more here. She goes in to some detail about our ranking in the world as 14 in number of gun deaths. What she fails to tell us is that the figures used include all the violent criminals shot by honest citizens and law enforcement officers in self defense and line of duty. They include all the vic- tims of wars between rival gangs where the victims were part of the problem and were often engaged in violent crimes themselves. All of which brings to mind the old saying: The figures don't lie but all liars figure. Ms. Dupuy, for all our faults, we still have the greatest nation on earth. We remain as free as we are only because of the large number of firearms in the hands of honest citizens. When those go away, our country will cease to exist as the world's best example of a free nation. Walt Mansell is past president of California Rifle & Pistol Association and lives in Red Bluff. Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2595 Cean- othus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Advice to all incoming high school freshmen Commentary tor anymore, but that's not going to stop me from making my annual plea to incoming high school freshmen. Get involved. The next four years of your life are going to fly by. Being you're a teenager, you I might not be the sports edi- You'll learn how hard work can lead to results. You'll learn how to work with other people. You'll learn how to manage your time. You'll learn how to social- ize. will make a lot of dumb deci- sions during this time. Don't start it off by making a stupid decision off the bat by deciding not to get involved with your school. You have a great training resource available in high school athletics. You can have fun playing a sport while at the same time learn some lessons that will help you out later in life. The Los Angeles Unified School District recently released a study that showed students who participate in athletics had a grade point average 0.55 to 0.74 higher than non-athletes. Maybe that doesn't mean anything to you now, but in four years when you're looking at colleges, having an extra half- point on your Grade Point Aver- age is not something you would turn down. It's also probably something that could save you and your parents money when it comes to scholarships. Red Bluff, Corning, Los Molinos and Mercy high schools are filled with wonderful coaches. They are men and women who give up what would other- wise be their free time to help mold young people. You want to be around these people. It doesn't matter if If football isn't your thing, try cross country. If you can't make the volleyball team, go jump in the pool and become a swim- mer. There are also pro- grams for tennis, golf and field hockey in this county. for you. you're a freak or a geek. Rich It doesn't even mat- ter if you can't throw a ball or catch one. There's a team out there for you and your peers will accept you. Greene There's a program Just try something. All you have to do to start is to show up. Daily News reporter Rich Greene can be reached at 527-2151, ext. 109 or connect with him at facebook.com/richgreenenews.