January 6, 2018
Dear Mr. President,
Like most adults, I own a car. I own a car because I need a car – it is an
essential tool designed to transport me, my family, and my stuff from point A
to point B.
In order to own and operate this car I first had to wait
until I was 16 and a half years old and then take a 10 week driver's education class
incorporating both 30 hours of classroom instruction and 12 hours of behind
the wheel instruction with a certified instructor (as well as 40 hours of
practice/supervised driving with my parents).
Upon completion of that certified driver education program, I then had
to take a written test and a driving test plus a vision test with the
Department of Motor Vehicles. Passing
those tests allowed me to get my driver's license. This license carries my current picture and
address and must be on my person or in my vehicle whenever I am behind the
wheel.
In Massachusetts where I grew up parents or legal guardians
are also required to take 2 hour of driver's education designed to teach them
how to properly supervise their teen during the additional 40 hours of
supervised driving required to get a junior operator's licensed.
Once I was legal to drive (a process that took a full year)
I bought a car. All cars come with a VIN number,
a unique alpha-numeric identifier allowing the car to be tracked, identified
and registered. But before my car could
even be registered it had to be inspected by a licensed mechanic who looked it
over from top to bottom to make sure it was structurally and mechanically sound
enough to be safe on the road. This
inspection must be repeated every single year regardless of the
age of the vehicle or how little it is driven.
So, with inspection sticker in hand and a clean VIN number
(meaning the car hadn't been stolen or used for any nefarious purposes), I
registered the car with the Department of Motor Vehicles. They issued my car a license plate (2 plates
actually) which must be properly displayed and easily visible at all
times. So now my car has two unique
identifiers: the VIN number and the
license plate on top of being officially registered with the Dept. of Motor
Vehicles. This registration must be
renewed every single year.
Believe it or not, despite all of this training, education
and oversight, I still can't legally drive my car. I must also have an insurance policy for the
car because even though it is designed as a tool for transportation, it could potentially
hurt or even kill someone. Remember,
it's not designed to hurt or kill someone. It just has the potential to do so, and
because of this potential I must pay for an insurance policy that would protect
and reimburse anyone who may be injured by my car, even if only accidentally. Also, I can be pulled over by any police
officer in any state at any time and must be able to produce proof of license,
registration, and insurance or else my car could be impounded, locked up and
removed from the road.
Now consider this: to
own a semi-automatic gun, a tool actually designed to kill as many
people as possible as quickly as possible, all I have to do is have enough
money to purchase it. That's it. Heck, I
can buy a pistol for my 5 year old and give it to him for Christmas! God Bless America! Let freedom ring.
Sincerely,
Amy Beaton
P.S. If you don't see
the obvious problem here than you are an even bigger idiot than I thought.
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