No bull zone: A response to Gary Haynes
In his Oct. 24-30, 2007, The Rock River Times column titled "Rebuttal to Eric R. Sonnenberg," Gary Haynes writes that "a column is therefore opinion." So my question to you then, Mr. Haynes, is, where is yours?
Haynes quotes source after source and cites statistic after statistic without giving a single opinion or solution about what he would do about gun violence or abuses of gun laws. Is Haynes advocating banning guns, proposing new laws or what?
I don't know why he called his column a "rebuttal" because I have never said there is no gun crime or abuses of gun laws. No system is perfect, and there are certainly abuses. But the answer is not to take away EVERYBODY’S rights because there are SOME abuses. The answer is to hold those abusers accountable for their actions.
It is hard to rebut or argue with someone who gives no opinion and offers no solution, and I would not refute the statistics he gives. So the only response I could give to Mr. Haynes' pointless bibliography is, yeah, so?
There are only a few things in his column where he gives enough of his opinion to repudiate. One is where he doesn’t understand the connection between oppressive regimes like Germany banning guns and the extermination of millions of people like the Jews in World War II. You ARE kidding, aren't you, Gary? And you used to be a journalist?
Another would be where he says my column "with guns we are citizens" rant is tired and almost irrelevant. IRRELEVANT??? I cannot think of a time in our country’s history where that would not be more relevant.
Haynes says in his column that at gun shows, "sellers are not currently required to conduct background checks or to ask for identification." It is obvious Mr. Haynes doesn't know what he is talking about because that is absolutely not true. Haynes states that, as a gun dealer, I can't be expected to be objective about citizens and guns and takes offense that I have an ad on the same page as my column. My answer to that would be FREE COUNTRY, FREE ENTERPRISE, Mr. Haynes. Apparently, he wants to restrict those privileges as well as take away our right to keep and bear arms.
Haynes goes on to bash letters to the The Rock River Times' editor in support of the Second Amendment and takes their comments out of context. One letter that said "A gun is no more dangerous than a hammer unless you have a careless person OR criminal using it," Haynes twisted it and sarcastically replied that the shooter at Virginia Tech was, he guessed, "careless" with the gun. He also wrongly concluded that the shooter didn’t become a criminal until AFTER the carnage. Not that it would have made any difference in the shooter obtaining the guns he used in the attack, but just so you know, Mr. Haynes, a criminal becomes a criminal when they undertake to commit a criminal offense, not AFTER they commit the crime. That is why ATTEMPTED murder is a crime and why conspiracy to commit many other crimes is a crime itself.
They say INTENT is nine-tenths of the law, and whether they use a gun, a hammer, a car or whatever, Mr. Haynes apparently can’t understand the concept that it is the person using it that is responsible, not the object itself.
Haynes said in his last column that the difference between killing somebody with a gun or a car is that the sole purpose of a gun is to kill and to maim. I’m sure that will be great consolation to all the victims of vehicular homicide, Mr. Haynes. Can anybody that saw the video of the lady down in Texas who drove her Mercedes around in circles repeatedly running over her husband believe her intent wasn’t to kill him?
Haynes even bashes The Rock River Times directly for publishing my column, saying it makes their paper look more like the Harvard Lampoon than a serious newspaper. The Rock River Times, Frank Schier, Brandon Reid and company don't need me to defend them, but having the guts to print both sides of an issue gets them high marks from me and everyone else I have seen respond to my columns.
Freedom of the press is another right Haynes would do away with, if it doesn't suit him. Guys like Gary Haynes often cowardly ridicule everything and everybody they don't agree with, but are then afraid to spell out their position for fear of retaliation.
Haynes has even said previously he is not anti-gun. REALLY, Mr. Haynes? Why won't you be man enough to say what you really mean? I see so many of these gun-grabbing zealots say they aren’t anti-gun and then proceed to do all they can to get guns banned. They must be really talented people because I haven't figured out how they can talk out of both sides of their mouth at the same time.
My column is titled "Straight Shootin’" because this is a no bull zone, Mr. Haynes, and you will not get a pass from me. Until Mr. Haynes has the guts to take a stand, offer a position, propose a solution, or says what he really feels, there is really nothing else to debate, and I will waste no more of my time on him.
On another subject, the Pine Tree Pistol Club Gun Show is coming up Sunday, Nov. 11, at the Forest Hills Lodge from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. I, and many other area gun dealers, will be there. So if you are looking for a handgun, shotgun or rifle, or just want to talk firearms, come on down. Hunting season is here, and Christmas is right around the corner.
I’d like to extend a personal invitation to Gary Haynes. If you don’t want to come in to buy a gun, Gary, maybe you would just like to see how a gun show really works. Then, maybe for your next attempt at writing a column, instead of just copying some statistics and quoting other sources, you can actually give a firsthand opinion.
Eric R. Sonnenberg is a Federal Firearms Licensed gun dealer who owns Forest City Firearms, 137 N. Chicago Ave., Rockford. He can be reached at (815) 262-4279 or via e-mail to forestcityfirearms@comcast.net.
from the Oct. 31-Nov. 7, 2007, issue