RABBI LEITER SAYS RESTRICTIONS ON FIREARMS IMPEDE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN

Open letter to Frank Sparaco

Legislator Sparaco,

Thank you for standing up for the rights of individuals to protect themselves, and others, from harm. In addition to any other arguments to be made, I wanted to share the following from my personal perspective: One of the issues we are heavily involved in currently is tracking down child molesters, assisting in their prosecution through conviction, and helping victims and their families resist intimidation. Anyone familiar with the child-molestation crisis, which affects all communities, knows how pernicious the intimidation phenomenon is. As anyone familiar will certify, victim-intimidation lies at the root of the molestation epidemic, which threatens an entire generation of children, spiritually, psychologically, emotionally, and physically.

Any public policy that further restricts or financially encumbers the rights of upstanding citizens to maintain and effectively employ the means of defense of the innocent makes our life-saving work harder. We cannot afford losing any edge in this already difficult uphill war against molesters and their evil enablers. Our children certainly cannot afford it. We put ourselves at personal risk for the benefit of others. We need the ability to defend ourselves, our families, and others, without the harassment of yet another party – government (which needs the work we are doing to be effective).

I’d also like to take the opportunity to correct yet again another myth. Firearms are meant to stop and/or kill lethal threats to the innocent. As such, the more effective the firearm is, the more capable it is to meet that need – i.e., to do it’s job. If some don’t like the connotation of those ‘scary words’ “assault weapon,” perhaps they’d benefit from therapy. But when confronted by multiple attackers, innocent victims need the best firearms they can get. And those who put their safety on the line for others need that assurance, namely, that they will have the means to most effectively protect themselves if – and WHEN – they need it.

That also explains the importance of opposing the ammunition-capacity limits for magazines. When confronted with multiple attackers, the need to reload could be lethal for the victim. I hope this adds a bit of clarity to this very emotional subject of debate, and opens the eyes of some who may be well-meaning, but very uninformed.
Sincerely,

Rabbi Noson Leiter
Monsey
Founder of Help Rescue Our Children and Torah Jews for Decency

  ammunition, children victims, firearm restrictions, gun restrictions, magazine restrictions, sparaco