2nd Amendment Defended

This was written by my father, there's no question where I get my literary ability now.  But I agree with him, and if you don't, that's ok.  It's your Constitutional right.  Just please read and consider, but don't be a jerk about it.

I find it hypocritical that the people who so fervently defend their constitutional rights of free speech and religion (the first amendment) are so willing to infringe and restrict the supporters of second amendment. If someone tries to restrict your religious rights, you scream to the highest mountaintops. If someone tries to restrict the press and your right of free speech, you call them oppressors and run to the courts to put an immediate stop to it. So why do you want to chip away at the second amendment? I certainly do not approve of pornography, but it is protected. I do not approve of the half-truths the so-called unbiased press spews out on a daily basis, but it too is protected. Mayor Bloomberg and his Orwellian beliefs goes from his private penthouse protected by armed guards, to his guarded limo, to his guarded office and believes we, the law abiding citizens should be restricted from having weapons. He does not live out in the country areas where budget cuts have decimated our police forces and the average time for an officer to get to my home to help is 20 minutes on a good day. By the time they get there it's all over but writing the report on what happened. I watched in disgust as David Gregory interviewed the mayor with kid gloves and did not contradict him when he made incorrect statements. The very next week he (David Gregory) went at Wayne LaPierre from the NRA like a pack of wild dogs on an injured rabbit.

Our constitutional rights (all of them) should be protected with equal enthusiasm by all Americans and should not be allowed to be subverted by any person who does not like a part of the Constitution or by special interest groups, lobbyists, or the fool who does not believe they are all equally important and necessary. My heart goes out to all those affected by the senseless act of some sicko, who by all accounts should have been institutionalized. Unfortunately, we are blaming the weapon, the magazine, the NRA, and law abiding gun owners for this senseless act and demanding to restrict them for these terrible actions. The abysmal failure of society to deal with deranged people properly instead of coddling them is coming home to roost. The failure of the legal system to effectively prosecute criminals instead of making deals and keeping the criminal on the street,  is now the fault of the rest of us and we should pay the price for the criminal rather than put them in jail where they belong. Stop blaming everything on the gun or the magazine and put the blame where it belongs -- on the criminal or the deranged animal that carries out these senseless acts.

All of your rhetoric and demands for stricter laws have scared the law abiding citizens into running out and purchasing so-called assault weapons and high capacity magazines to the point they are now on back order for fear you are going to take away their rights. What you have accomplished is a near panic among the usually reasonable populous because they now are in fear of the government. When the people fear the government, they are poised to do irrational things, which none of us want. It's time to step back, take a deep breath and work on fixing the problem in a reasonable and sensible manner keeping mind that the Constitution must be defended on all parts.