Letters: A pistol saved my uncle
January 29, 2013 5:36PM
Updated: March 1, 2013 6:19AM
My 75-year-old Uncle Henry lived in Harvey. He lived in the same house for 40 years with his wife. His wife passed away in 1976, so in 2000 he was lonely and spent many hours watching TV. He was old and frail and did not travel well.
One night while he was watching the TV in his small four-room house, two large men kicked in the rear door to his home to rob or kill him. Uncle Henry had an ancient .38-caliber pistol with ammunition as old as the gun. He aimed at the ceiling and pulled the trigger a few times before the old ammunition fired. The would-be robbers/killers fled rapidly because he was armed.
My wonderful uncle passed away five years later, but thanks to that old pistol, I was able to spend those last years with him. The story was a small footnote in the news, but had he been killed or killed a robber, it would have garnered much more attention.
More gun laws to be totally ignored by criminals will not help protect anyone but will actually hurt the law-abiding people who merely want to protect their families, hunt, target shoot and live in peace. Criminals steal their guns and ignore the laws, so more laws for them to ignore will not help.
The Connecticut shooter was mentally ill and stole the weapons and killed the legal owner. No law can stop this, only common sense such as securely storing the guns and preventing access to mentally disturbed people and minors.
Lee Stahr
Shorewood
Where’s the water?
The “Mighty Mississippi” and Lake Michigan are very low on water. Is this a record occurrence?
My second question is, how long will it take Mother Nature to replace these shortages? Would the shortages be made up more quickly if we had some large snowfalls that melted slowly, or rain to make up the shortage faster? Where would the water come from? Canada or the surrounding states?
Curiosity is killing me, and the answers should be of interest to most people who live near either.
Jerry Cavender
New Lenox
