This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I grew up around guns, shot rabbits and fired guns in my house when I was a teenager (target practice from the kitchen down the hall to my parents' bedroom into some boards my father had nailed together).
But the good people of Utah should know this fact of life (and death): Most people should not own guns! I cry out another fact: The day you buy a gun to protect your family could be the day you set in motion a chain of events that will damage or destroy your family. You read these stories almost every day ("Two boys are found dead in S. Jordan," Tribune, Nov. 15).
Don't listen to the paranoia stirred up by the NRA. Instead, sell your guns and use the money to buy a first-class security system, locks with deadbolts, lighting that you can flip on from your bedroom, and a noise maker that can be heard outside.
Gun safes are a total joke for most people, and there is no sacred right allowing mentally ill or emotionally unstable people to buy or own guns.
Roger E. Carrier
Sandy