Ken Trainor is one of my favorite columnists because he is so entertaining. His recent op-ed invitation to join the groundswell is a case in point [Viewpoints, June 10].
You bet people who know Ken do a double-take when he says he belongs to a “gun group, shorthand for Gun Responsibility Advocates (GRA), a remarkable collection of committed individuals.”
Until, that is, they find out it is really a gun-ban group, composed of committed individuals who are remarkable only in that they agree completely with Ken, who sees any anti-gun violence advocate (impolitely referred to as a gun rights advocate) petitioning the government with their grievances as intimidating elected representatives. (Bloomberg/Soros $$$ is not considered intimidating because it pays to advance Ken’s opinions!)
The majority of the voters in the U.S. are so supportive of the GRA’s views that the only way to get an anti-gun referendum approved in progressive Oak Park was to sneak it onto the Oak Park Township ballot last November, disguised as a vote against gun violence.
Anti-gun violence advocates may tell you “gun control doesn’t work” but GRAbguns advocates can’t find any place in the world where it does work. Sorry, I don’t believe gun control will work just because you say so.
Taking a Bloomberg Moms talking point “with rights come responsibilities,” GRAbguns advocates want to inconvenience legal gun owners without bothering gang members, abusive spouses and the dangerous mentally ill.
While Ken accuses gun owners of believing that having a gun will send criminals off in search of easier victims (isn’t that the idea?), I didn’t know gun owners want hyper-vigilant police in the inner-city!
While self-righteous in their concern for the tiny number of victims murdered by the dangerous mentally ill, GRAbbers quietly and persistently ignore the much greater number of people murdered by gang members and abusive spouses.
The recent quixotic gun violence discussions failed to achieve anything because of the elephant in the room — the GRAbbers really do want to take away all guns but will not admit it, nor will they settle for anything less. Every one of us who favors legal gun possession expected to learn how to decrease gun violence. All we got for our time spent was repetition of the latest Bloomberg Moms anti-gun talking points, with mere lip-service paid to the hundreds of shootings and deaths right next door in Chicago.
The GRAbbers talk a good line about not wanting to take away guns in general but work toward exactly that goal in every specific instance.
I look forward to hearing about new ways to decrease gun violence from Chief Tanksley, former Village Attorney Heise, Dr. John Barrett, Representative Ford, NGVAC reporter Rosenberg and a gun violence poet(?).
Yes, I want to be part of the Kenswell, a group of individuals who believe in someday changing attitudes, legislation and, finally, behavior as decreed by Mr. Ken Trainor.
John Erickson
Oak Park
