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This 10 year old put together a pretty good letter to the editor, which I laud. But lest I be accused of beating up on a kid, let me point out first that Ms. Olson entered the public sphere, and as such does not get a pass on what she writes. Second, my real purpose in discussing this letter is not specifically that it is a 10 year old's opinion. I noticed that what she wrote bears a striking resemblance to what a typical leftist would write, so I would suggest that either she was thoroughly coached, or that the Left tends to reason like children.
I do not expect that a 10 year old would have developed critical thinking skills. That is apparent from her letter. But since the general thrust of her letter parallels the Leftist mindset, her ideas are worth evaluating.
Read on for my comments.
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My name is Sophia Olson and I am 10 years old and I have been hearing a lot about gun shooting lately from grown-ups, from kids like me, from the Internet, etc. and frankly, I’m disappointed. I thought grown-ups were supposed to be responsible. (Grownups are supposed to be a lot of things. There's a lot of things wrong with the world, however. Gun violence is only a symptom, and getting rid of guns will not cause adults or anyone else to be responsible.) With all that’s going on, I’ve realized that there’s a lot of bad people that are doing so many bad things like the guy who did the shooting in Connecticut.
I don’t think that selling guns to every person is a good idea. (This is a straw man. No one has argued that every person should be able to buy a gun.)
They might look normal, but they can always be bad or they could be sick and we sell guns to them anyway. (It is true that bad people sometimes purchase guns. Again, no one thinks we should sell them guns. But notice the use of the word "we," which suggests that private parties engaging in legal, private transactions has something to do with what "we" should or should not do. The Left frequently employs the universal "we" as a rhetorical device to suggest inclusiveness, togetherness, or a consensus that has yet to be demonstrated. So she identifies that bad people buy guns, but implies that "we" should not do this, as if "we" happily allow bad people to buy guns.)
I think that we should have ID cards for guns and you should be certified, and people should lock guns up when they’re not using them. (Her solution is that people should have to have ID cards, but the possession of an ID card does not mean a person is good. But beyond that, how is it an improvement to have a gun ID, as opposed to background checks, etc?)
Sometimes good guys turn into bad guys really quick, just like a snap when they get mad. (So a good person who buys a gun and has an ID card turns bad. How does Ms. Olson think that the ID card helps in this scenario?)
People shooting each other for past experiences, for racial issues, for revenge and for no reason at all, makes me sad. (It makes us all sad. But people shooting people is illegal, isn't it? Will an ID card change that? Will criminals stop being criminals? And should we make laws based on emotions like sadness?)
I don’t want to live in a world like that. I don’t feel safe in that kind of environment. (Bozeman, Montana is not that kind of environment, and if someone is making Ms. Olson feel unsafe, they are manipulating her with false specters of peril.)
If people think that having a gun is most important, I don’t understand. (Do people really think that having a gun is "most" important? This is another false meme of the Left, which falsely suggests that gun owners don't care about anything but guns.)
What do they think it’s more important than? My education, their children and our feelings? (*Sigh* Another technique of the Left, presenting a false choice. Someone owning a gun has nothing to do with her education. Her feelings are not the basis of appropriate legislation. She has been led to certain conclusions about those dangerous, eeevil guns by the adults in her life, and she is responding on an emotional level. She seems to think that "we" ought to do things because it will make her feel better. Some day she hopefully will find out that very few people care about her feelings.)
When the people like that say that I want my gun and I don’t care what you think, that doesn’t make me feel very good about myself. (Once again a false premise. Who, exactly, is saying that they want a gun and don't care what people think? And she repeats her hurt feelings, which is a solipsistic way of thinking. By that I mean that she considers herself the center of the universe, so external events are only important to the degree which they might impact her. However, people do things all the time without those things having anything to do with her. And somehow her self worth is attached to what people do about their guns. Strange.)
When people say that, it makes me feel like I’m not important at all and having a gun is better than anything. (Her importance is irrelevant. There are 320,000,000 people in this country. Frankly, she is just not important to almost everyone. If someone's decision about a gun makes her feel unimportant, it's likely due to some sort of misdirected sense of self worth she has that preempts everything else that happens in the world. Hopefully she will grow out of this self-involvement. And once again, a straw man. Who says that having a gun is better than anything?)
Grown-ups tell us kids that you treat others the way you want to be treated. Why can’t they follow that rule too? (By placing herself at the center of the universe, she now proclaims that she isn't being treated properly, simply because someone, somewhere, owns a gun. If they really cared, they would get rid of their gun so that Ms. Olson can feel better. If they want to be good people, they would not hurt her feelings. If they don't want her to be afraid, they will not keep their gun. It really is all about her.
They might look normal, but they can always be bad or they could be sick and we sell guns to them anyway. (It is true that bad people sometimes purchase guns. Again, no one thinks we should sell them guns. But notice the use of the word "we," which suggests that private parties engaging in legal, private transactions has something to do with what "we" should or should not do. The Left frequently employs the universal "we" as a rhetorical device to suggest inclusiveness, togetherness, or a consensus that has yet to be demonstrated. So she identifies that bad people buy guns, but implies that "we" should not do this, as if "we" happily allow bad people to buy guns.)
I think that we should have ID cards for guns and you should be certified, and people should lock guns up when they’re not using them. (Her solution is that people should have to have ID cards, but the possession of an ID card does not mean a person is good. But beyond that, how is it an improvement to have a gun ID, as opposed to background checks, etc?)
Sometimes good guys turn into bad guys really quick, just like a snap when they get mad. (So a good person who buys a gun and has an ID card turns bad. How does Ms. Olson think that the ID card helps in this scenario?)
People shooting each other for past experiences, for racial issues, for revenge and for no reason at all, makes me sad. (It makes us all sad. But people shooting people is illegal, isn't it? Will an ID card change that? Will criminals stop being criminals? And should we make laws based on emotions like sadness?)
I don’t want to live in a world like that. I don’t feel safe in that kind of environment. (Bozeman, Montana is not that kind of environment, and if someone is making Ms. Olson feel unsafe, they are manipulating her with false specters of peril.)
If people think that having a gun is most important, I don’t understand. (Do people really think that having a gun is "most" important? This is another false meme of the Left, which falsely suggests that gun owners don't care about anything but guns.)
What do they think it’s more important than? My education, their children and our feelings? (*Sigh* Another technique of the Left, presenting a false choice. Someone owning a gun has nothing to do with her education. Her feelings are not the basis of appropriate legislation. She has been led to certain conclusions about those dangerous, eeevil guns by the adults in her life, and she is responding on an emotional level. She seems to think that "we" ought to do things because it will make her feel better. Some day she hopefully will find out that very few people care about her feelings.)
When the people like that say that I want my gun and I don’t care what you think, that doesn’t make me feel very good about myself. (Once again a false premise. Who, exactly, is saying that they want a gun and don't care what people think? And she repeats her hurt feelings, which is a solipsistic way of thinking. By that I mean that she considers herself the center of the universe, so external events are only important to the degree which they might impact her. However, people do things all the time without those things having anything to do with her. And somehow her self worth is attached to what people do about their guns. Strange.)
When people say that, it makes me feel like I’m not important at all and having a gun is better than anything. (Her importance is irrelevant. There are 320,000,000 people in this country. Frankly, she is just not important to almost everyone. If someone's decision about a gun makes her feel unimportant, it's likely due to some sort of misdirected sense of self worth she has that preempts everything else that happens in the world. Hopefully she will grow out of this self-involvement. And once again, a straw man. Who says that having a gun is better than anything?)
Grown-ups tell us kids that you treat others the way you want to be treated. Why can’t they follow that rule too? (By placing herself at the center of the universe, she now proclaims that she isn't being treated properly, simply because someone, somewhere, owns a gun. If they really cared, they would get rid of their gun so that Ms. Olson can feel better. If they want to be good people, they would not hurt her feelings. If they don't want her to be afraid, they will not keep their gun. It really is all about her.
And note that at first she wanted people carry gun ID cards. Now she wants to get rid of guns. Why? Because feelings.)
Sophia Olson
Bozeman
Sophia Olson
Bozeman
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