Dear Mr. President …
Dear Mr. President,
As I've done for the past two administrations, I thought I'd write you a letter sharing the concerns that I and so many others who are gun owners have. I have my doubts that you'll ever even see this but I have to try anyway.
Sir, you promised to be the president for all Americans — both those who voted for you, as well as those who did not. I have no shame in saying that I did not vote for you, but I am still an American citizen and hope that you won't ostracize the millions of gun owners who believe in the fundamental right to keep and bear arms.
I'd also like to be clear, sir, that the Second Amendment says nothing about hunting as many have falsely posited. It should be understood that hunting is a byproduct of gun ownership, but this was never the goal the founding fathers had when they put pen to paper to ratify the Bill of Rights. Why would the unorganized militia as outlined in 10 USC 246 need the 2A to go hunting?
They wouldn't. I think you know this, sir, and I implore you to remember this fact when gun control legislation comes across your desk.
As of right now Mr. President, you hold all the power. You have at your disposal a democrat controlled congress and can pass any laws you'd like.
Please just remember the people when you go to sign. What would the people you work for (all of us, and not just the ones from your party) want you to do? Recent studies have shown that gun control efforts are at the very bottom on the list of things people want you to focus on, or at least close to it, for at least the start of your term. It's no wonder as to why it's so low, with a global pandemic taking place AND adding millions of new gun owners to the millions who have already existed. In 2019 there were 19 million concealed carry permit holders and that number grew considerably in 2020.
The actual number of people who carry guns for self-defense is actually somewhat higher than that, being that several states don't require a permit to carry. Those numbers are just the folks who want to carry a gun for self-defense. There are millions more gun owners who still hold fast to their guns who don't carry.
I know many of these people, and they are very pro-gun.
You will be getting bombarded by people from anti-gun groups who will expect, even demand, that you listen to them. They have the strict goal of removing guns from everyday citizens like me and do NOT represent a majority of Americans. And while I can agree that something needs to be done about street violence, punishing people who already bend over backwards to abide by the law is not the way to proceed.
Punishing people who want to follow the law is not the answer, especially when there are so many other measures that can be taken that already exist. Sir, we already go through background checks for gun purchases. And when that system is followed, when the governmental agencies at all levels do their part, it weeds out so many bad actors.
Instead of violating a right so many of us hold dear to our hearts, why don't we try to follow the laws that are already in place? Instead of a ban on the most popular guns in America turning millions of gun owners into criminals, wouldn't it make more sense to prevent those who are already criminals from buying guns by following laws already put in place?
For example, in 2019 I reported on a story about my home state of North Carolina where crimes weren't properly being reported. Reporters got word that 145,000 people who should have been blocked from buying a gun due to violent crimes were not in the background check database.
Sir, that is just one state in the Union, and if my home state has failed in this regard, I'm sure there are others. Here is a link to the original news source.
That is just one example, Mr. President, but I know your time is precious so we'll move on.
If you really want to unite the country, enacting gun control measures is not the way to do it. You will inadvertently isolate millions of people as you push them further away.
In closing, I urge you to take your oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the United States as it is written, very seriously. I urge you to not sign any gun control legislation that will further alienate nearly half of the country. Nothing good will come from that.
Thank you for your time, Mr. President, and good luck.
Joshua Gillem
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JUSHUA VERY WELL WRITTEN IM WITH YOU 200 PERCENT
GOD BLESS AMERICA !!
Dear Joshua; Very well written and said, more than that SPOT ON.
Thank you, Kathy.
Bravo, intelligent and enlightening Mr. Gillem. Thank you. We all need to understand United We All Stand so time to stop dividing.
Joshua,
First I want to thank you for your service, and secondly I want to thank you for taking the time to write the President to represent the law abiding citizens who have guns and treasure the second amendment. As you know with the current administration their is nothing they would like more then to take our guns and get rid of the second amendment. Take care.
Spot on Thank you for your service.. I agree 100% with you.
Thank you for speaking on behalf of all of us gun owners. Please keep us all in the loop as to what (if any) response you get from this.
Thanks again,
Steve G. In Alabama
Joshua,
Thank you for your service from a fellow Army Vietnam veteran, this is a very well written letter but I am afraid the people in the Presidents admin., will not allow it to get to his desk. Even if he should read it he will not pay any attention to it. Monet talks talks and BS walks. The powers that be, “ie” the rich, the senate, the house of reps, they do not care about you and me and others like us. They promise you anything to get elected and when they do, they no longer care about the people only their pockets. Politicians are crooked and this is true even for the president who ever that may be. They do not care because they have payed protection payed for by our taxes. I love this country with all my heart. But I am afraid we are fighting a losing situation. But I pray they will listen. They should be going after the people like the one’s who attacked the Capitol, they all have automatic weapons, Qanon, BLM, KKK, and other illegal groups, the government knows who they are, these people do not care about being a law abiding citizen, the senators the house of reps should all be tried for Treason along with Trump, they were, are all complicate. just watch what happens with trial. That’s all I have to say about the matter God Bless America Amen
Dean Rider, Thank you for stating the thoughts
Of a large majority of the citizens of these United States.
I’m with you 100%.
Well said Josh. I hope it finds it’s way to the President and anyone else who needs to hear this message.
Bob Wallace
Well written. I would like to hear what you think of this move to ban body armor. That is what concerns me. I do not understand the reasoning behind this. I do not understand the goal of such legislation. Maybe I need to read up on it before it becomes a thing in Illinois. Beyond guns, many related prohibitions seem arbitrary, e.g., I can walk into a store anywhere in Illinois and buy any ammo I want (except armor piercing. Don’t have a problem with that. Don’t see many tanks rolling at me). What’s stupid is that I can’t purchase it online. That doesn’t keep me from buying ammo it just makes me pay more. It also makes me buy more at a time because of the hassle. So it defeats the purpose. We have laws against people having ammo who are not allowed to. Just enforce the laws and let me get the cheap ammo I desire. Logic and practicality is what will solve most of these problems.
Idiocy will not help. For instance, I have not heard Biden or Kamala say anything about changes to the constitution or taking away guns as Mark (above) said. They’re the administration. Everyone else works for them. If they don’t say it, it ain’t gonna happen; at least not from the executive level. They have no control over congress, the courts, or state legislatures. I have no problem with the FBI making sure I’m not nuts, have a propensity for physically harming people and am who I say I am. I had to do some of that to drive a car. I don’t mind doing it to carry a gun. What gun owners need are lobbyist that are not motivated by people looking to make a profit, some religious agenda about how God came down and told them they could have a gun, or some partisan political BS. They just need to tell legislators why gun ownership is an overall positive and that the negatives are outweighed by the positives. When people hear BS, they stop taking you seriously.
If you haven’t heard him say he will be coming after our guns just listen to this.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Biden+telling+us+Beto+is+coming+for+our+guns&view=detail&mid=D13E42C2D9B9509AC4D3D13E42C2D9B9509AC4D3&FORM=VIRE
Joshua,
In the past few days I have written to the President a total of 5 times. I did receive a response from his e-mail that appeared to be a canned message.
However; whenever I wanted President Trump to read my message I would begin with a phrase in red lettering that said “To whom ever receives this e-mail, I sincerely request that you forward it to the President for his eyes to see. This e-mail contains a sincere request for the President to answer. Thank you for your cooperation.”
By prefacing what you wanted the President to see, his people had no choice but to send it to him. Now that was Trump. I don’t know what Biden has told his people to do..
Good luck, I hope the President will take this and be a serious law maker and consider the people who feel the same.
Did you send this to the WH, or just post it here? I would hope you took the time to try and get this to the POTUS. Posting on a site he will probably never see is a waste of time.
True
Yes and I’m not stopping there. I am also going to record myself reading it and a few other things as well. My goal is to do all I can in this fight for our rights every day the Lord grants me breath.
Josh
Wish I could send something like that but I put it in a hardcopy now and said by the United States post office registered where it requires a signature then there’s a good chance he might see it course if you put it in the newspaper in Washington DC somebody might read it time
I agree with GW. POTUS will never see or give credence to this very well written letter here.
Gun rights shall not be infringed upon in any way shape or form it is not only a right it’s our duty as americans to be our own militia ready to stand against any and all threats to our rights foreign or domestic and stand as one nation under god 🙏
Joshua,
Thank you for taking the time to write this letter to President Biden. I personally support this and hope it finds its way to the desk of the POTUS. I hope that if and when it arrives on his desk that he will take the time to read it and sincerely act on it accordingly to support all the law abiding, gun owner citizens of this nation.
We all have the right to keep and bear arms to defend ourselves and our loved ones from harm, foreign or domestic. If this right is taken away from us, we are all going to be in a heap of trouble. Who will make sure we are safe? Law Enforcement? I don’t think so… They only show up after the violence has already happened. They don’t prevent or defend us from crime and violence. That’s not their jobs. So, if our guns are taken away from us we are back to pitch forks and swords while the criminals are still running around with their illegal weapons to do whatever they want to us good citizens.
It appears to me that as each year passes, more and more of our rights and our voices are being taken away from us and our government and the agencies gain more power. I have to agree with something Rick Leslie mentioned in his comments. Unfortunately, I feel this is a losing battle for us. The people at the top really don’t give a damn about us, “The People”. Unfortunately, they really don’t and what’s really disappointing about this is that “We The People” are the ones who put these people at the top. Now we are the ones who will be punished and made to suffer because they don’t care. They live good lives no doubt. They have Property, Money, Protection… all the fine things in life they have. Why should they care about us average citizens?
We have to somehow be heard. We have to find a way to make them understand that we have a responsibility to our families to defend ourselves and our loved ones because no one else will do it for us.
Joshua, thank you again for your passion and efforts. Thank you for your service. Semper Fi. Good luck to all who support this. God Bless this great nation!
Outstanding!!! Hope and pray your letter makes it to his desk and he reads it with an open mind. Semper Fi, Mark (USMC 77-03)
Well done Joshua. Thanx!