My Invitation to Paul Vitello

I just sent this email:

Mr. Vitello:

I wrote a hostile dissection of your original piece on gun control, and I called you a blatant liar – pointing out several of your assertions that were, at best, hyperbole. That piece is here:

http://www.smallestminority.blogspot.com/2004_02_29_smallestminority_archive.html#107853301015717758

I have done the same to your most recent piece, where I have again illustrated that you are in error. That piece is here:

http://www.smallestminority.blogspot.com/2004_03_07_smallestminority_archive.html#107885502842211218

I called you a liar, Mr. Vitello. I believe your statements to be deliberate and knowingly wrong, not mere misstatements of the ignorant – though you do appear to be unsurprisingly ignorant on the topic as well.

You said: “I do not know why there are any objections, though, to laws protecting citizens from nuts and criminals – and terrorists – who want to buy assault rifles at any sporting goods store in America.”

I’d love to discuss that topic with you, at length. The answer isn’t simple or obvious, and it requires quite a bit of background information and education to understand. There’s a REASON “(t)he gun lobby is intensely well-organized to fight every single one of these laws, however, and to make each one as ineffective as possible.” The “gun lobby,” Mr. Vitello, is several million politically active but otherwise average American citizens who happen to believe that the Bill of Rights actually means something. All of it.

So here’s my invitation: If you really want to understand the reaction your piece drew, let’s discuss gun control, preferably in a public forum. I promise you, you’ll learn a lot. I don’t expect to “convert” you – but you will understand WHY we believe what we believe when we’re finished, even if you do not accept that belief.

I await your response, but don’t honestly expect one.