The Sun Journal article, “Maine guns for Mass. drugs: Bay State criminals find Pine Tree State a great place to buy guns, sell drugs,” states that there are “… no indications that gun laws in Maine … will change any time soon.”

But why?

Maine gun laws do not merely protect the rights of sportsmen and women and other upstanding citizens to bear arms. “In Maine, a person can buy a gun fairly easily. Thumb through a swap magazine, contact a seller and fork over the cash. You have a firearm, whether it’s a sawed-off shotgun or a semi-automatic handgun.”

Every gun starts life as a legal weapon, but guns seep into the sewer of illegal street weapons through porous drains such as Uncle Henry’s and gun shows. Why would any honest citizen object to banning such unregulated gun sales?

The “Pentagon Shooter,” John Patrick Bedell, with a long history of mental illness, bought his two handguns without a background check at a Nevada gun show.

Imagine our shame should Maine someday be identified as the source of guns used in such an attack; or of weapons used in a terrorist attack such as took place at Fort Hood; or in an incident such as the shootings at Virginia Tech.

I hope Maine citizens will not be hoodwinked by the strong gun lobby that, by stonewalling and demonizing much-needed legislation to regulate gun sales, ownership and safety, supports the rights of criminals to arm themselves and to harm honest citizens.

Sheila Leavitt, Newton, Mass.

Editor’s note: Writer Sheila Leavitt asked the Sun Journal Friday to note that she grew up in Turner and owns property in South Paris, where she spends her summers.

Copy the Story Link