Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 13:43:06 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <199909081743.NAA12323@mattababy.mit.edu>
From: belmonte@mit.edu (Matthew Belmonte)
To: CapuanoHR8@aol.com
Subject: Re: your USnail of 3 September

You wrote to me on 3 September 1999 to thank me for expressing my views on gun
control and to assure me of your strong support of gun control measures.  I
find this odd, since although I've contacted you about many issues in the past,
gun control has not been one of them.  In fact, I strongly oppose most of the
gun control measures that have been proposed.  As you observe in your letter,
`we must emphasize preventive measures such as education and intervention to
address the problems before tragic incidents occur.'  A child who is
emotionally damaged and wants to harm those around him will find a way to do
so.  What must be addressed is the source of the emotional damage: instead of
installing more guards and metal detectors in schools, making students feel
even more depersonalized and warehoused, we should install more good teachers,
and make an effort to involve students as partners in the school community
instead of as mere subjects.

As for gun control, the one set of measures that I do support is a requirement
that gun owners be educated on how safely to use and to store a gun.  Gun
ownership itself should not be restricted, and the Second Amendment should be
broadly interpreted in order to safeguard the liberties of individual citizens.