Focus on rights doesn't make gun owner a 'nut'

Dr. Ken Serkownek, psychologist Ph.D., I would appreciate you didn't call me names (Letters to the Editor, The Nugget, December 26, page 2).

Believing in my Second Amendment right and the rest of the Bill of Rights does not make me a "gun nut" nor does it give you the right to call me names, especially when identifying yourself as a "professional psychologist" of 30 years.

"What I have learned time and time again: Don't try to debate the issue with these gun nuts. Reason won't change it. What will change the situation is not reason..."

I find it interesting that you advise not to use reason as a tool to solve problems. But then again, I am not a Ph.D. psychologist.

We can recite facts back and forth all day, for both sides. A Chinese man stabbed 22 children in a school with one knife. Timothy McVeigh blew up and killed almost 200 people and wounded 300.More than 10,000 people per year are killed by drunk drivers. Governments have taken weapons away from their citizens only for them to be slaughtered later on (Germans, Russians). Meth, cocaine, heroin, pills, moonshine, marijuana are all regulated; several have killed, all are widely available. A couple of U.S. States just legalized marijuana and moonshine has its own TV show now.

I have a right to purchase/

own/carry firearms, regardless of caliber, make, model, etc. so long as I obey the laws. That doesn't make me a gun nut. I have a right to choose my religion, regardless of denomination. That doesn't make me a religious nut. I have a right to vote for the person or party of my choice, like you suggest doing. That doesn't make me a Democrat or Republican nut.

This is one reason why we resist people like you, people who don't believe in reason: We want problems solved, we want our children safe, we don't resist reasonable regulation, we will protect ourselves, our families and our rights. Like Mr. Cornelius, I have needed firearms to protect myself and my family. Although I don't agree with everything he wrote, I do believe he has that right.

It appears that you don't understand guns. Maybe go take a class with your local CHL provider or hunter safety course provider or NRA course before you call me names.

There are several assault type weapons on the market. The one making the bad impression right now is the AR.

AR-platform rifles come in .22, .223, 5.56 mm, .308, and .338, all of which are hunting rounds, all of which come in many styles of rifles. High-capacity magazines exist for hunting rifles, many of which are semi-automatic. A .22-caliber Ruger 10-22 comes standard with a 10-round magazine. Is my rabbit-hunting and target-plinking rifle now an assault weapon?

Is an AR-15 in any caliber with a 30-round magazine a hunting rifle? Not for deer hunting and not for elk hunting. It is for coyote hunting. It is for gopher hunting.

But that doesn't matter. My Second Amendment right is NOT about hunting. It is not about whether I "need" a firearm. It is about my right to keep and bear arms if I so choose, as it is your right to not to choose to buy one.

Governor Kitzhaber wants stricter gun laws, a ban on "assault weapons" (The Nugget, page 20) and shorter prison terms (page 23). Guess he isn't listening to reason either.

Mark Miller is a resident of Sisters.