Jim Chiddix in his Feb. 15 letter, “Gun ownership should not be unregulated,” seems to be under the erroneous opinion that registering firearms and their owners would reduce crime.

Nothing could be further from the truth. If we were to make registration mandatory, it would do nothing but give the government a list of names from which to confiscate firearms.

Does he believe criminals will register their firearms? If not, how will registration reduce crime?

Is the proliferation of firearms the cause of gun-related violence or the moral decline of America resulting from the social revolution of the 1960s? What gun ever committed a crime without first being picked up by a citizen with evil intent? Should we not, therefore, lock up the citizen who chooses to do evil of any kind against another citizen?

Evil vs. morality is nothing new. Plato believed that bodily life is full of delusion and danger. The soul is to be cultivated in the present both for its own sake and because its future happiness will depend upon such cultivation.

I believe cultivation of the three Rs — respect, restraint and responsibility — will do more to curtail gun violence in our society than gun registration.

Dave Ricker

Wiscasset

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