This letter is in reference to Mr. Thorson’s letter to the editor, “Gun laws in U.S. don’t make sense.” First, gun owners do not hunt with machine guns; I believe that is already against the law. The guns used are semi-auto — one pull of the trigger, one shot. You are wrong when you say any average Joe who can pass a background check can go out and buy any machine gun he wants. You can buy a machine gun, but you go through additional background checks and you must pay $200 for a stamp per gun. It has to be locked and stored, and you are open to inspection by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) at any time.

If a person has a machine gun and wants to sell it to someone, they must contact the ATF and transfer the gun after a background check and a new stamp has been issued.

The following is a copy of an address by George Washington to the first session of Congress:

“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the people’s liberty teeth keystone. … The rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable … more than 99 percent of them by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference. When firearms go, all goes, we need them every hour.”

Mike Gordon

Albert Lea