No madness

I used to be of the same opinion of AR- 15's as Martin J. Pielech, wondering who would need such a gun for hunting. Then I learned how fun to shoot and accurate an AR-15 can be. Now I hunt wild hog, turkey, and coyotes regularly with my Armalite AR-15. It is a blast. I would never dream of using a "deer rifle" anymore for these small game. When I'm hunting deer I grab one of my Sako rifles, but when I'm hunting hog, turkeys, or coyotes only the AR-15 and my dog Kujo go with me.

The AR-15 is also the perfect size and style for my 17-year-old daughter, Tiffany.

Dr. Burnie R. Burnside

Denton, Texas

In no way should you censor the magazine's content--ever! My experience has been the same as yours: the gun grabbers think all guns are evil. Besides, whether we give the anti-gun crowd any ideas or not, they are not interested in the truth or cold, hard facts. They invent reasons to come after our guns independent of the content of your fine publication. If they don't see a photo of an AR-style rifle, the gun grabbers will look for a photo of a grandson shooting his grandpa's old scoped, bolt-action .22 LR squirrel rifle and foam at the mouth about how evil we are to let children hunt with "sniper" rifles.

I used to be very discreet in demonstrating my support of the Second Amendment, hunting and shooting. However, several years ago I came to the same conclusion Mr. Ted Nugent has been preaching for years: we should stand unashamed and proudly proclaim our gun ownership. The best thing we can do to fight the anti-gunners is openly show how much wholesome and safe fun there is to be had when shooting and hunting. That was the way I interpreted the photograph of Mr. Gottfredson's grandson in the April 2008 issue. In fact, I believe gun owners who are afraid to let others know about their gun-related interests give more fodder to the antigun crowd than any number of "black"--rifle photographs.

James L. (Jim) Allen

Seabrook, Texas

In regards to Martin J. Pielech's letter "Madness?" in the June issue, his comments about the picture of a youngster hunting with an AR-15 sounds just like the anti-gunners. He classifies it as a bad gun that should not be published because of its looks. And you, Mr. John, brought out all the reasons why it was the perfect gun for the youngster--adjustable stock and light recoil. There is no difference between a semi-automatic "evil looking assault weapon" and a "good looking" semi-automatic Remington 7400 (or any other "hunting" rifle). This is still America (for now). We still have the Second and First Amendments. Keep on publishing pictures of free Americans hunting with legal semi-automatic rifles, regardless of what they "look" like !

Ron Stinson

via e-mail

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