My name is Deo Young and I live in central Kentucky. I am a transplant from Michigan. I am 69 and I have served my country as a medic in Vietnam. I too have a family and treasure them just as much as others treasure theirs. In my opinion, all laws (gun laws included) should punish the guilty, protect the innocent and preserve our freedom.

To think that some people want to take away my constitutional right to protect my family and home is, in my opinion, ludicrous.

While I am willing to allow others the choice of hoping the police or those who can afford a private protection agency will protect them, I am not willing to lay down that responsibility to others. In each of the mass murders by cowards if just one trained person had a legally owned firearm many of our precious loved ones would be alive today! Former military like myself would be honored to be trained to be school resource protectors for our children in schools and would do it for free as a service to our community!

Fear causes people to reject what they don’t understand. So the former CEO of National Public Radio, Ken Stem, took the time to find out what he didn’t understand about the gun rights people (not just the NRA) like what kind of people are they and why do they believe like they do.  What he found was God-fearing everyday people with families who are hardworking. People who will do all they can to train and be prepared to protect themselves and others. Without the protection of the second amendment, this would be left up to police and military.

Although he is convinced that we need some kind of gun laws his view of gun owners has changed. As a product of our environment, we too often spout what we hear each day without facts to support them.   In fact, there are more than enough laws on the books to prevent people from acquiring guns illegally. Yes, you must be background checked before buying a handgun anywhere in the United States. In fact, that while people seem to be concerned about gun rights, yet few seem concerned, over 10,000 people dyed from alcohol-related auto deaths last year. Few seem to want to enact new laws to prevent people from dying on alcohol. No one is taking their cars away, and no one disagrees that illegal drugs are rampant (most agree that gun related deaths are due to drug-related issues).

What is being done to stop the gangs from their rampages? New laws? In fact, ask a felon what new laws will prevent crime! In fact, the homicide rate has dropped by 50 percent in the past 20 years, while legally owned firearms have risen sharply. In fact, some people have realized that if you need protection from crime you can’t wait for the police to arrive in time!

Black lives matter, and so do whites and every other color. In fact, cities with the most stringent gun laws on the books have the highest crime rates. When people lose their right to self-protection criminals lose their fear of retaliation. 

Fear of the unknown can cause us to be fearful of each other. If we grow up fearing things, we grow up fearing people who own those things (such as guns, dogs, knives etc. What are you more afraid of a gun owner who could protect us or a criminal or coward out to do harm?

In fact, according to the DOJ legitimate defensive gun use (Often dismissed by the media) happens more than 200 times a day. Or, according to a Florida State University study, more than 5,000 times a day. Stern (former CEO of NPR) found that gun control doesn’t do what its backers say it will do.

Reducing gun violence is not just a matter of the will, and of overcoming the Neanderthals (the NRA), but focusing on the poverty, chugs, race, and mental illness, and gangs and not the weapons that can be used for good or evil.

In fact the answer to a moral issue is not taking away the right to own a car, a drinking privilege or owning a gun. Prohibition didn’t work and too often we go after the inanimate items and not address the cause of the problem.

Legitimate gun owners are just exercising their constitutional right and may protect you or your loved ones from harm someday-maybe today. That is a fact! And while you may disagree with me, please have your facts verified and I will protect your right to free speech right next to mine with the Second Amendment.

Deo Young

Wilmore