Saturday, March 26, 2011

Letter to the Editor

One of our readers sent us this letter he'd written to his local newspaper.  It was not accepted for publication, at least not yet.  What do you think?
As a second amendment supporter and a legal gun owner, the Connecticut law requiring all hand gun owners to take a NRA course on gun safety and purchase a $ 125 eligibility certificate is a prominent example of political corruption and influence peddling in the American political process.  The so called gun control law in Connecticut is nothing more than political corruption by the NRA that only benefits their own members and does nothing to stem the flow of illegal guns or reduce the amount of gun fatalities in Connecticut

The $ 125 eligibility certificate is a prime example of how politicians and political lobby groups like the NRA are all part of the same problem. Instead of limiting the options of Connecticut residents to only paying an NRA certified instructor to obtain an eligibility certificate to purchase a hand gun , the same corrupt politicians who were influenced by the second most powerful political action committee in America, should have included an option for Connecticut residents to take a gun safety class at a local police station.

A recent article by the Connecticut Post, Target shifts to gun lessons (Connecticut Post March 14, 2011), reveals that local police stations do have the resources to offer the same type of class to the citizens they serve and should be an option for Connecticut residents who may not want to support the National Rifle Association with the $ 125 eligibility certificate.

The recent article, Target shifts to gun lessons was about a local police department offering a ‘citizens police academy’ designed to provide citizens knowledge and understanding of how that local police department operates.  Although the real motivation of the local police department to offer a ‘citizens police academy’ was a public relations maneuver to overcome the negative publicity of a June 2009 accident in which two teenagers were killed by police car speeding at over 90 mph, the article proves that police departments do have the resources to provide local gun training to citizens.
Although proclaimed to be a gun control measure by the left wing politicians who passed the legislation, the entire $ 125 fee associated with the NRA issued eligibility certificate goes directly to the National Rifle Association. Not a single dollar goes to the state to fund gun control measures like tracking illegal guns or promoting gun safety programs like trigger locks. The $ 125 fee is a text book example of legalized corruption and influencing peddling in American politics.  If the NRA had the interests of all citizens and not just its members, the NRA would have supported legislation that included the option to go to a local police department for the required eligibility certificate and gun safety training.

In addition to assisting citizens to fulfill the state statue that requires all hand gun owners to pass a gun safety class, having local police departments offer the class enables local police to see firsthand who is purchasing handguns and to personally meet the citizens they serve. 

At a time when the public is debating the salaries of public servants, local governments and police departments should be providing more services to the citizens who pay their salaries and fund their pensions. Offering to provide gun safety classes to citizens who want to exercise their second amendment privilege and not be forced to pay a $125 “fee” to own a handgun would be a good step towards removing some of the legalized corruption in the American political process.

7 comments:

  1. First of all, the author is wrong. The $125 does not go to the NRA, it goes to the instructor offering the course. The NRA does not get a percentage. The only thing the NRA will receive is a small fee each year from the instructor to maintain his certification. The instructor pays this fee ($10) regardless of how many classes he teaches or how much he receives for instruction.

    Second of all, I do not believe you will find many police departments with the extra budget to go into the CCW instruction business. Maybe they could open it up to the other concerned groups and allow gun safety instructors from the VPC or Brady. Oh yeah, I forgot. Those groups are against gun safety.

    ReplyDelete
  2. the article states that the so called gun control law only supports its members, Any political lobby group will do all it can to get the advantage for the members who are paying the salaries of the lobbyists trying to corrupt the politicians....OK then, if the NRA mother ship in DC is not benefiting from the fee, than its local instructors are....either way, it is political corruption .......why isn't any of the money for that "fee" going to the state...Connecticut like most states is facing a deficit....the gun shop is already making a profit on their merchandise..usually a 30 percent mark up in retail if I am correct..so the extra $ 125 on a $450 hand gun is a nice extra bit of cash for the gun shop....it is a wrong notion to say that police departments don't have the budgets. u ever see the salary of a local police chief??? I would say cut his salary but 10 grand and you would have a lot of extra money to fund ccw classes for the few hundred citizens who would want to take a class....it is not like driving a car.there are still lots of people who do not like guns........if more citizens were active and held their elected officials accountable EVERY two years, than the system would be run better.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The local instructors do not even have to be NRA members. Your argument about NRA getting a stream of cash from this is bogus.

    The law sets the amount in Connecticut. Most states just require a training certificate and the instructor chooses the amount to charge. You are making a hollow argument.

    Requiring NRA training is done in most states. Even the "lefties" know where to go for quality, consistent training.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm a centrist, although left of Anonymous. I wouldn't go to the NRA for quality training; I wouldn't avoid them either. But at least in my area, they aren't particularly the creme de la creme of firearm instruction.

    That is just dumb gun loon posturing by Anonumbass.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is not about a permit to carry. This is about a $125 dollar tax on the second amendment. Before you can purchase a hand gun in CT, you have to take a course and pay the fee, to in effect, get a drivers license for your pistol. It's unconstitutional and unfair and it serves no purpose as criminals again, by definition, break the law.

    ReplyDelete
  6. the $ 125 fee has nothing to do with a CCW permit. If the NRA had gun owners interests in mind and not just its members, than it would push for Connecticut to honor other state CCW permits.
    The $ 125 eligibility certificate is nothing more than a tax on the gun. In my opinion, eligibility is no criminal record, US citizen, and cleared of a background check.
    If I lived in Connecticut I would buy long barrel weapons which are exempt from the eligibility requirement.
    You can buy a shotgun, but you can't buy a .22 hand gun.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Aside from the question of who actually pockets the 125 bucks, can we at least agree that the required training is useless. To be valuable wouldn't it have to be more thorough and administered by better qualified instructors?

    ReplyDelete