
Gun and Knife Show Information Virtual Gun Show DACA's Mission Statement Club Officers Club Newsletter Upcoming Events Useful Links DACA's Book Store Club Resources Home	Wright writes to FWST I sent the following letter to the Fort Worth Star Telegram in response to an article titled, US has highest gun-death rate among richest nations. The editor asked me for permission to print it, but I never saw it. Maybe it was because I was moving to Temple at the time and didn't see it or maybe they decided it would be more politically correct not to print it. I don't know, but I do encourage you to respond when you read misinformation. We must protect our rights. -Rod Wright April 17,1998 To the Editor: I have just finished reading the article, "U.S. has highest gun-death rate among richest nations, study says," in the April 17 edition of the Star Telegram. As a person who has spent over 30 years in the public health field and have just recently retired from the Texas Department of Health, I have some comments and concerns about the information in the article. As a public health professional I am concerned about the CDC being made a vehicle for a political agenda. The role of a public health agency is to prevent and control illness, disease and accidents. It also has the responsibility to advise elected officials in the writing of health laws that are effective in protecting the health of the public, but do not infringe on individual liberty. I don't wish to sound cynical, but the statement, "This (gun-deaths) has to be treated as a public health emergency," by Rebecca Peters, a John Hopkins University Fellow specializing in gun violence, sounds very self-serving, an attempt to promote her job security. Some examples of public health emergencies are the AIDS epidemic, the destruction and or contamination of water treatment facilities in the Midwest during last year's heavy flooding, the contamination of meat with E. coli and the flu outbreak after World War One. I have been interested in guns and have been involved in the gun control debate for many years and I know there have been a number of studies (perhaps not sponsored by the government) of the rate of deaths involving firearms in the United States compared to other countries. Since the assassination of President John Kennedy, one of the main tactics of the antigun groups is to publish data from these various reports. If you remember, the two favorite countries for comparison are Britain and Japan. I also have a problem with the age of the data. Your article said the data supplied was from 1994. Your paper has said that the crime rate has dropped in the last couple of years. Hunter safety programs and the NRA Eddie Eagle Child Gun Safety program are in full swing, so although I don't have the data to prove it, I believe the number of gun-deaths are lower than in 1994. Because cultures are different, people in other countries commit murder and suicides and have accidents in different ways. I believe a more meaningful study would have been to examine all the causes of violent deaths, not just gun-deaths. Thank your for giving me the opportunity to express my opinion in this matter, Sincerely, Rod Wright Address/phone

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Wright writes to FWST

I sent the following letter to the Fort Worth Star Telegram in response to an article titled, US has highest gun-death rate among richest nations. The editor asked me for permission to print it, but I never saw it. Maybe it was because I was moving to Temple at the time and didn't see it or maybe they decided it would be more politically correct not to print it. I don't know, but I do encourage you to respond when you read misinformation. We must protect our rights.

-Rod Wright
April 17,1998

To the Editor:
I have just finished reading the article, "U.S. has highest gun-death rate among richest nations, study says," in the April 17 edition of the Star Telegram. As a person who has spent over 30 years in the public health field and have just recently retired from the Texas Department of Health, I have some comments and concerns about the information in the article.

As a public health professional I am concerned about the CDC being made a vehicle for a political agenda. The role of a public health agency is to prevent and control illness, disease and accidents. It also has the responsibility to advise elected officials in the writing of health laws that are effective in protecting the health of the public, but do not infringe on individual liberty.

I don't wish to sound cynical, but the statement, "This (gun-deaths) has to be treated as a public health emergency," by Rebecca Peters, a John Hopkins University Fellow specializing in gun violence, sounds very self-serving, an attempt to promote her job security. Some examples of public health emergencies are the AIDS epidemic, the destruction and or contamination of water treatment facilities in the Midwest during last year's heavy flooding, the contamination of meat with E. coli and the flu outbreak after World War One.

I have been interested in guns and have been involved in the gun control debate for many years and I know there have been a number of studies (perhaps not sponsored by the government) of the rate of deaths involving firearms in the United States compared to other countries. Since the assassination of President John Kennedy, one of the main tactics of the antigun groups is to publish data from these various reports. If you remember, the two favorite countries for comparison are Britain and Japan.

I also have a problem with the age of the data. Your article said the data supplied was from 1994. Your paper has said that the crime rate has dropped in the last couple of years. Hunter safety programs and the NRA Eddie Eagle Child Gun Safety program are in full swing, so although I don't have the data to prove it, I believe the number of gun-deaths are lower than in 1994.

Because cultures are different, people in other countries commit murder and suicides and have accidents in different ways. I believe a more meaningful study would have been to examine all the causes of violent deaths, not just gun-deaths.

Thank your for giving me the opportunity to express my opinion in this matter,

Sincerely,
Rod Wright
Address/phone

The Dallas Arms Collectors Association, Inc
P.O. Box 704
DeSoto, Texas 75123
(972) 223-3066

dallasar@dallasarms.com

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