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In response to Dr. Tom Smiley's letter about President Barack Obama and guns, I have to make a few comments.
Dr. Smiley's comments are factual and accurate and unfortunately incomplete. I suppose space was limited in what could be published.
His czars have already made changes that will have a direct impact on private firearms use and ownership. The brass, for example, from once-fired rounds at Fort Benning have been sold on contract to a company to be reused as reloaded ammunition for the general public. Not any more. As soon as this contract is over, a million rounds a year will be ground into powder instead.
Lead, the main component of bullets from the beginning, is being held out as a problem. Finally, the truth has surfaced that the studies that were being used to prove issues around lead "poisoning" crows and other scavenger birds were made up. Shooting clubs in coastal areas have been shut down with the argument the lead is "leaching" into the water and soil. Sorry, but in a base environment (as opposed to acidic) lead won't leach. Science doesn't matter anymore.
There is a plan in the United Nations that isn't getting any press: a worldwide treaty against private citizens owning firearms. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is deeply involved in this. The plan is to bring the treaty to the U.S. and have it ratified by the Democrat-controlled Senate. The only hope then is that the Supreme Court would rule that the Senate cannot agree to a treaty that goes against the Constitution, but that could be a coin toss.
Voting does matter. Unfortunately, informing the public is near impossible. I appreciate Dr. Smiley making his points and I hope he keeps it up.
Ed Fickey
Gainesville