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Setting the record straight

Editor, Index-Tribune:

    

  Thanks to Bob Edwards for setting the historical record straight regarding the slaughter of the Lakota Indian tribes at Wounded Knee in 1890 (Valley Forum Feb. 5, “The real lesson from Wounded Knee”).

  Indeed, Native American tribes across the North American continent were armed during the almost 300 years of wars of white occupation – later, many with guns – for all the good it did them. Their being armed did not stop the massacre of millions, their lands taken and their 10,000-year-old cultures all but wiped out.

  The point: Their guns and other weapons were practically useless in the face of much greater numbers with more sophisticated weaponry.

  The argument that Americans need guns to resist a government bent on disarming and persecuting them is quite absurd. The U.S. government has the most advanced weaponry and training in its armed forces. What good would some rifles and handguns do in the face of that?

  The Second Amendment references arms for “… a well-regulated militia.” Such exists. The states call them national guards. It’s suggested to those who feel drawn to guns and the need to shoot them to join the U.S. military or the California National Guard. That’s the proper place for assault rifles and all the weaponry some feel is needed to settle disputes.

  Better yet, practice peaceful solutions and settle differences without resorting to violence, and maybe some day humans will learn to live differently. A guy named Gandhi defeated the British Empire without firing a shot. Anything’s possible.

  Will Shonbrun

  Boyes Hot Springs