Gross tragedies such as the Newtown, Connecticut rampage are an unfortunate consequence of our Jeffersonian freedom to bear arms, just as the publication of hate literature and pornography are the unfortunate consequences of our Jeffersonian freedom of speech. With tears in my eyes, I am willing to pay this bitter price because I am convinced that a society in which only the police have guns will inevitably become a police state. The wide spread anti-gun rhetoric neglects to address this critical conscientious objection to gun control.

J.K.B. von Falkenhorst