Guns and Neighbors

Dear Editor:

Most of us seek and stay within a familiar track, most of the time. It's human nature to take the road more travelled. We buy morning coffee at the same store, groceries at the same market, drive the same roads to go to work, basically meet the same people every day. Most of the time, most of our lives.

So if we're surrounded by the familiar, who are we really defending against in our rush to buy ever more guns? We must feel a need to defend against evil outsiders, that 'criminal element' that surrounds Groton and just permeates society. If you really thought that way you'd never leave home. Fear is powerful, but it's no way to live.

Or, we must feel a need to defend against our neighbors and the people in our daily routine. These are all familiar faces, but one of them may actually go crazy some day, and we need to be ready. We don't trust the people we associate with, and we certainly don't trust all the other people we don't associate with. Some believe we need deadly force to feel level with our world.

In response, our neighbors feel the same way about us, explaining their rush to buy more guns. What a vicious downward spiral of our civilization. Beware, the wind may tip over a trash can some night causing a loud 'bang', and we'll all be facing a circular firing squad as we the neighbors start shooting at each-other.

Even in the Wild West days, Dodge City and Tombstone made you check your guns at the city limits or their police department.

Paul Iannacci

Townsend Road

West Groton