My letter to the Walden Town Council

[mousegunner]

I sent the following to the Walden Town Council. Walden is on the North edge of Signal Mountain, near Chattanooga...

July 22, 2009

Re: “Guns in Parksâ€

To: The Walden Town Council

First, let me express to you all a big “Thank you!†for all you have done and are

doing for the town of Walden. You are selfless civil servants, giving your time and

hard work to keeping Walden a wonderful place to live, and I appreciate all of you

very much. I and my family have lived here for twenty years, and Walden is a little

piece of Heaven!

Second, please allow me a few minutes of your time to express my opinion about

the “Guns in Parks†resolution vote coming up soon. I note from reading the paper

that Signal Mountain has opted to forbid citizens with State permits to carry in

Signal Mountain parks. But I see that Red Bank has voted AGAINST a similar

resolution. I would like to respectfully ask you all to follow Red Bank’s example.

I have been a firearms enthusiast for a good number of years, and a permitted

handgun carrier for the past five years. Did you know that handgun permit holders

must attend a class in Tennessee handgun law, and must take training in how to

safely fire their handguns? We also are fingerprinted, and our backgrounds are

thoroughly examined by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. We are

law-abiding responsible people, not careless hooligans, as you might think from

some of the editorials we read in the paper. In fact, a good number of Wayside

church members are also people with handgun carry permits, and serve as Deacons

and Elders.

When the criminally insane decide to “go out with a bang,†they choose to do their

evil deed in a place where people congregate in large numbers, AND in a place

where good citizens are rendered defenseless by anti-gun regulations. They

choose government office buildings, schools full of children, churches, shopping

malls, and even parks. Why? Because there is no one there with a firearm who

could oppose them and stop them in their wickedness. Several times each year we

read in the newspaper about some such event. As long as we created “gun-free

zones,†criminals will choose those places where they can kill without opposition.

Then when the police do show up, they commit suicide.

I would like to ask you to follow the example of Red Bank, and not that of Signal

Mountain, for several reasons:

1) According to the online data base of the TBI, there are eight registered sex

offenders living in Walden and Signal Mountain. If I were a mother or father (or

grandparent) with children, playing in the park, I would like to know that I might

be able to have my handgun in my purse or pocket (assuming I have been officially

licensed by the State) to protect my children and myself from a criminal who

might be especially drawn to a park full of children.

2) I have NEVER heard of a man or woman with a TN permit doing a crime with

his/her pistol, or shooting an innocent bystander accidentally. But I HAVE read of

many cases in which a permitted gun holder has actually stopped crimes and saved

lives. The mass media doesn’t publicize these stories, but they are true and

common.

3) Some people say: It could never happen HERE. Walden is such a nice peaceful

place, no evil doer will ever come here and try to shoot an innocent person. Let me

remind you that it just recently happened to a chiropractor in Signal Mountain, in

his office. It was God’s grace that he was not killed by his estranged wife who was

mentally deranged, and who believed that demons were in her husband, which had

to be let out by “holes,†which she proceded to make with her handgun. (Crazy

stuff, but that was in the news!)

4) Please don’t do something just because Signal Mountain does it. I’m often

amazed at what the Signal Mountain Town Council comes up with, and their

decisions are not always really for the good of our larger community. They have

their own reasons for what they do.

5) I have great respect for the Law Enforcement Officers in our area. But, the

police can’t be everywhere. When police cannot be present to prevent crime,

citizens must be able to protect and defend themselves. Does it make sense to say

to Walden citizens, “All over Walden you can carry your gun, if you have a permit

from TN. But when you come into our parks, you must render yourself and your

children defenseless.â€

Thank you for your time and consideration!

Dr. Marshall C. St. John, Pastor

Wayside Presbyterian Church

[Mr. Brooks]

Very well done!

[Mountain Man]

Excellent letter.. Your points were well made.

[LagerHead]

Very good letter. I would like to offer one piece of constructive criticism though. HCP holders are not immune from the ills of society, unfortunately. While our rate of crime is far below the rate of the general public, it does happen. So instead of saying "never" I would encourage all of us point out the Significantly lower rate.

I only point this out because the huge flaw in anti-gun arguments is their distortion of facts. While I know this was not your intent it could be construed that way by the anti-gun lobby and we certainly don't want to be drug down to their level.

Again, my criticism is meant to be constructive. Great letter though. I hope it finds them with an open mind.

[oldogy]

Well said, sir. We all hope the council members have open minds........Rare today.

oldogy

[E4 No More]

Very well done!

[mousegunner]

Thanks for the constructive criticism. Too late now, though, as I mailed the letters yesterday!

[LagerHead]

Thanks for the constructive criticism. Too late now, though, as I mailed the letters yesterday!

Haha. Oh well. It's not a huge point anyway. But the lefties like to latch on to those statements like the leeches they are.

[Motasyco]

Mousegunner, add one more post. I think you may want to increase your post count of 666 by one.

[mousegunner]

Yoicks, I passed 666 soooo fast! Guess I'm not the anti-christ!

[Guest Grout]

On a side note it appears East Ridge will allow guns in parks.That is a good thing as a large portion of Camp Jordan is wooded and has it's share of "residents" living in there.I had an encounter with one a few years back under the I 75 bridge and only had my Spyderco knife with me at the time.

[Guest Centennial]

Marshall,

Your letter is excellent. As a resident on Walden's Ridge, I do hope the officials in Walden see this issue more clearly than the ones in the Town of Signal Mountain and vote to allow HCP citizens to carry in the parks in Walden.