To the Editor:

In response to the commentary of the Oct. 15 edition:

Sen. Obama claims to support the Second Amendment of the constitution, but before the Supreme Court tossed out the Washington D.C. gun ban (Heller case) he was in support of the ban. Obama said, “I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets through common sense, effective safety measures.”

So, Obama’s idea of common sense measures is to have gun bans as was imposed on the citizens of Washington, D.C. This ban was in place for 32 years, yet D.C. is the most crime-ridden city with the highest number of gun related homicides in our nation. In fact, it is two to five times higher than any of our states. At least now the citizens will be able to defend themselves from that violence.

Beware of Obama’s rhetoric. He is a slick Chicago politician. A very smart polished speaker. I heard him say in a statement awhile back “we don’t need automatic assault weapons on our streets.” Folks, this may have gone over the heads of many, but it is already illegal for the general public to posses automatic firearms and has been since 1934! His intention is to make semi-automatics illegal.

I say to you, rather than listen to the NRA or any campaign blather or promises let’s just look at the record.

First, everyone should wonder why he has not mentioned his board position with the Joyce Foundation. Since 2003 the Joyce Foundation has paid grants totaling over $12 million to gun control organizations. The largest single grantee has been the Violence Policy Center, which has received $4,254,970 from 1996 to 2006, and calls for an outright ban on all handguns, semi-automatics and other firearms, and substantial restrictions on gun owners (see Wikipedia – Joyce Foundation). I would like to put his entire voting record on gun control in my letter but it is substantial and would take a lot of space. Go to www.sportsmanforobama.org and/or www.gunbanobama.com In these, you will find the bills, dates and quotes. His record as an Illinois State Senator is shocking!

Obama and Biden will say they won’t interfere with hunting, target shooting and antique gun collectors. What if you hunt or target shoot with a semi-automatic rifle or pistol, handgun, a mini-14, or other such common firearm? Forget it! These are the firearms that Obama and Biden have sought to ban. This is not NRA hype, this is their records speaking!

Just keep in mind, the Second Amendment is about self protection not hunting. Violent crime rate has gone down nationally in recent years as many states have authorized the right-to-carry for the general populace.

The V.P. hopeful Senator Biden brags that he was the architect of the Clinton gun ban. Do we want that foisted on us again? I think not! Keep in mind, if the executive branch is taken by these two (the most left leaning candidates to ever make the party nomination), it won’t be like any past Democratic leadership. That’s because, this one will have both houses on their side. There probably won’t be enough resources in the NRA or any other pro-gun organization to stop the gun-banners from getting it their way.

I’m not an alarmist trying to scare you into voting one way or another, but as our editor has stated, we need to make our decision based on the facts. OK, now you’ve been enlightened, go in peace and vote!

Bill Wilcox

John Day