I normally resist the urge to comment publicly on much of the liberal misinformation that I read in the op-ed pieces of your paper. However, I feel compelled to respond to the ludicrous insanity that Rekha Basu endorsed in her presentation about firearms printed by you on Aug. 9, “Honor James Brady by taking real action on gun violence.”

Basu claims that the National Gun Victims Action Council (NGVAC) has proposed four common-sense proposals that would enhance safety without diminishing gun owners’ rights. Those proposals, however, do just the opposite, concerning personal safety, and could not contain less common sense without the deliberate intention of making them appear to be irrational.

The first proposal that she lists is the most dangerous and alarming of the four. The registration of guns, licensing of gun owners and other similar measures, are the first steps toward making the people vulnerable to confiscation and domination by, as well as servitude to, an unfettered, out-of-control government.

And to all of those who say “Oh, that could never happen here,” I would remind them of the nonchalant attitude of the current administration toward its sworn duty to “uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.” I would suggest that such control of the citizenry can be thwarted only by the people’s ability to defend against it.

The second proposal, concerning criminal accessibility, bears some merit, although it is fundamentally flawed by the constraints of practicality of enforcement.

The third and fourth proposals are frightening because they dramatically increase the vulnerability of victims by creating “prohibited areas” where they are unable to protect themselves from threatening and dangerous activities that are often most likely to occur in those “gathering places.”

Also, I would not want to bet my life on the infallibility of smart trigger technology.

David Small lives in Norridgewock.