# No ma'am - A Marine's Letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 4, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100 "2013-01-04T20:47:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/41 "2013-01-05T00:24:26Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > FWIW Dianne Feinstein carries a gun for personal protection. She’s also a known proponent of strong gun control. A bit like the pot calling the kettle black. Isn’t she the person that first discovered the bodies of Harvey Milk and the mayor of San Francisco (blanking on the name) after they were murdered at cith hall? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/42 "2013-01-05T00:28:23Z")
Yeah, Feinstein was the President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors at the time. > **[Moscone–Milk assassinations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscone%E2%80%93Milk_assassinations)** > > On November 27, 1978, George Moscone, the 37th mayor of San Francisco and Harvey Milk, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, were both shot and killed inside San Francisco City Hall by former supervisor Dan White. On the morning of that day, Moscone intended to announce that the Supervisor position from which White had previously resigned would be given to someone else. White, angered, entered City Hall before the scheduled announcement and first shot Moscone in the Mayor's office... > [@](#): > > Dianne Feinstein, who was then President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, saw White quickly exit Mayor Moscone’s office from a side door and called after him. White sharply responded with “I have something to do first.” ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/43 "2013-01-05T01:27:52Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Well, anyone with a CCW has to show cause to need one, not just want one. I’m female; that’s an automatic rubber-stamp, right? No. Why would it be? > [@Taomist](#): > > Say I’m afraid for my safety, that I’ve been attacked before? Who can legally argue with that? Any sherrif in California. That’s the thing about “may issue” CCW permits; issuance of one is completely at the discretion of the local law enforcement office. If the local sherrif is reasonable, you’d get your permit. But if the local sherrif believes that no civilian should be allowed to carry, he’s not required to issue a permit to anyone, no matter how dire that peron’s situation may be. And short of moving to a more reasonable county, there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/44 "2013-01-05T01:28:29Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > FTFY. **Clothahump** , You’ve been here long enough to know better than to change another person’s quote. Don’t do this again. Thanks, **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/45 "2013-01-05T02:28:43Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Veterans do have excellent training in firearms. They know how to handle them safely. The combat vets fought for this country and helped preserve our freedoms. We’d all be goose stepping and saying heil Hitler if it weren’t for the WWII vets. If anyone has the right to own and enjoy guns it’s our vets. Oh, bullshit. Vets have no more rights than any other citizen. I’m sick to death of the worship of the military that’s grown over the past twelve years. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/46 "2013-01-05T02:38:58Z")
As the son of a WW2 Pacific Theater and Korean War combat veteran, I have a lot of respect for vets. They don’t have more rights than I do though. There is a pretty broad definition of “responsible” gun owners. But put me in the camp of registration is a good thing and not at odds with the second amendment. Especially since so many irresponsible gun owners are using guns that were previously owned by “responsible” gun owners or “responsible” straw purchasers. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/47 "2013-01-05T02:55:50Z")
Isn’t Deinstein the Senator who got offended & scolded a military officer for addressing her as “Ma’am” during a committee hearing? ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/48 "2013-01-05T02:58:26Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > There are lots of brave veterans whom I greatly admire. > > There’s also Timothy McVeigh and his Bronze Star. And Charles Whitman, the you know, Marine. Also, what country do you live in that there’s only been a handful of spree shootings in the last 20 years? Since April 1999, there’s been at least 125 of these things in America and that’s not including what’s happened recently. You must have a lot of damn hands. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/49 "2013-01-05T03:03:12Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > A lot of veterans own and fire civilian assault weapons. At least that’s the way it seems at the ranges I’ve visited. It’s always ex military guys firing the AR-15’s. It’s a hobby they enjoy. Tough shit. Serve in the military if you like (and it’s a very fine profession), but it doesn’t give you some sort of veto power over the democratic process. Our soldiers and veterans are just ordinary American citizens (and the more reflective ones don’t ask for anything more than that), and like all citizens, you win some and you lose some. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/50 "2013-01-05T03:03:35Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > And Charles Whitman, the you know, Marine. > > Also, what country do you live in that there’s only been a handful of spree shootings in the last 20 years? Since April 1999, there’s been at least 125 of these things in America and that’s not including what’s happened recently. You must have a lot of damn hands. [62 in the last thirty years.](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mass-shootings-map) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/51 "2013-01-05T03:55:27Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Texas. We actually write the name of the county tax collector on our check when sending in vehicle registration (e.g. Pay to the order of — Carol Jones). That worked so very well [in Illinois.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Powell_(politician)) > [@faithfool](#): > > And Charles Whitman, the you know, Marine. And Lee Harvey Oswald. An appreciation from Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your Senior Drill Instructor: > [@](#): > > HARTMAN: Do any of you people know who Charles Whitman was? None of you dumbasses knows? Private Cowboy? > > COWBOY: Sir, he was that guy who shot all those people from that tower in Austin, Texas, sir! > > HARTMAN: That’s affirmative. Charles Whitman killed twelve people from a twenty-eight-storey observation tower at the University of Texas from distances up to four hundred yards. Anybody know who Lee Harvey Oswald was? Private Snowball? > > SNOWBALL: Sir, he shot Kennedy, sir! > > HARTMAN: That’s right, and do you know how far away he was? > > SNOWBALL: Sir, it was pretty far! From that book suppository building, sir! > > HARTMAN: All right, knock it off! Two hundred and fifty feet! He was two hundred and fifty feet away and shooting at a moving target. Oswald got off three rounds with an old Italian bolt action rifle in only six seconds and scored two hits, including a head shot! Do any of you people know where these individuals learned to shoot? Private Joker? > > JOKER: Sir, in the Marines, sir! > > HARTMAN: In the Marines! Outstanding! Those individuals showed what one motivated marine and his rifle can do! And before you ladies leave my island, you will be able to do the same thing! ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/52 "2013-01-05T04:03:08Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > **ETA:** ah, on review, it looks like it’s because there are ex-soldiers who don’t want to give up guns, and their opinions count more. Gotcha. Won’t someone think of the veterans! It’s got everything, deification of the military and gun-nut wankery, all in the puerile format righties love so much. Brings a tear to an eagle’s eye, it does. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/53 "2013-01-05T06:01:23Z")
Why are no soldiers coming forward to protest their rights to have sex with horses or drive drunk? They’re veterans, they deserve their freedoms! ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/54 "2013-01-05T06:13:39Z")
“You will not tell me that I must register my semi-automatic AR-15 because of the actions of some evil man.” I wonder if this person goes through the rest of his life with this same attitude. “I am a marine. You will not tell me to stop my car at red lights. You will not tell me to pay my income taxes. I am an American and as such I am entitled to break all of the American laws I want to. Because, again: marine.” Um, OK. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/55 "2013-01-05T06:16:45Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Isn’t Deinstein the Senator who got offended & scolded a military officer for addressing her as “Ma’am” during a committee hearing? No, I believe that was Barbara Boxer, California’s other senator. Who, by the way, is quite a bit to the left of Feinstein. By California standards Feinstein is pretty moderate. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/56 "2013-01-05T06:19:26Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Carrying a _handgun_ for personal protection does not contradict a desire to ban _assault rifles_, any more than banning leaded gasoline means going door to door and confiscating golf carts. Dianne Feinstein has long expressed a desire to implement a total gun ban. Total. Every last one of them. > [@](#): > > [Discussing her failure in passing a ban on semi-automatic weapons, Feinstein said on CBS-TV’s 60 Minutes, February 5, 1995, “If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban, picking up every one of them . . . Mr. and Mrs. America, turn 'em all in, I would have done it. I could not do that. The votes weren’t here.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Dianne_Feinstein#Gun_politics) Yet she has one of the permits to carry in San Francisco, the number of which can be counted using only your fingers, so she can carry around a firearm, something that she has devoted considerable time and energy to deprive you of. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/57 "2013-01-05T06:45:28Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Oh, bullshit. Vets have no more rights than any other citizen. I’m sick to death of the worship of the military that’s grown over the past twelve years. Living outside of the States, it’s very noticeable. Funny thing is that the people who are first in line to wave the flag don’t seem to be around when it comes time to do things which would help the military and vets, such as massively increasing taxes to actually pay for the wars we fight and the help which vets need when they return. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/58 "2013-01-05T06:48:00Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Yet she has one of the permits to carry in San Francisco, the number of which can be counted using only your fingers, so she can carry around a firearm, something that she has devoted considerable time and energy to deprive you of. You said “has,” indicating present tense. Do you have a cite for this? Because I just did some searching, trying to find any statement by Dianne Feinstein that reconciled the apparent hypocrisy, and all I can find is one statement that she made in 1995 indicating that she once carried a concealed weapon in the 1970s. In the absence of any other information, I am perfectly willing to believe that in the decades since that time, she has changed her mind about gun control and no longer carries a concealed weapon. (I am also perfectly willing to believe otherwise, if someone has actual cites to share.) ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/59 "2013-01-05T06:53:18Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Dianne Feinstein has long expressed a desire to implement a total gun ban. Total. Every last one of them. > > Yet she has one of the permits to carry in San Francisco, the number of which can be counted using only your fingers, so she can carry around a firearm, something that she has devoted considerable time and energy to deprive you of. Ah, thank you for the quotes/link. 'cause I still wasn’t seeing the disconnect between gun control and gun ownership. But desiring an outright ban on something she uses/used? Yeah…hypocritical. Devil’s advocate over there suggests her personal security requests it, though. She’s controversial, one of the best-known feminist names; lots of nutcases would happily attack her, of that I have no doubt. I can see it being stupidity to not defend yourself, but if she truly has stated that her agenda is to ban them all, at a time she was carrying, then…yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100/60 "2013-01-05T06:58:11Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Yet she has one of the permits to carry in San Francisco, the number of which can be counted using only your fingers, so she can carry around a firearm, something that she has devoted considerable time and energy to deprive you of. My god, I can see it so clearly now. And once all the guns have been taken and melted into slides, she will raise the Kaiser and storm the White House with a lady pistol and a sabre and we’ll be powerless, powerless, I tell you! Hunt your deer and turkeys and ducks to your hearts desire, but don’t tell me you need your ar 47s and your clips and your semi-automatics or whatever. No deer is so crafty you must spray a cloud of bullets to kill it. Those weapons are meant to mow down humans and do not belong in the hands of people who are not in war zones. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-maam-a-marines-letter-to-senator-dianne-feinstein/646100.md?page=4)