“[In 1970], I was asked by the United States of America to
fight for freedom in Viet Nam. I was given an assault rifle that was designed
to fire 20 bullets every 3 seconds (400 bullets per minute with a large enough
clip) to kill as many of the enemy as possible in a shortest period of time.
“Let’s be real, this type of destruction has no place in our
peacetime civilized society. Please be honest, ask yourself if you have the
right to carry rocket propelled grenades or a m60 machine gun? Of course not.
Someone please tell me why you should be allowed to own an assault rifle. Please
don’t embarrass yourself by saying that it’s your right to bear arms or you
need it for hunting.
“Listen, I’m not professing to take our guns away, I am just
saying that we need to have some sanity to the argument. In today’s world we
will always be confronted with emotionally disturbed people, terrorists, and
criminals. Let’s just agree that we need to make it difficult to arm them with
weapons designed to achieve mass slaughter of large number of human beings.
“The bottom line is that there is no reason why weapons of
mass destruction of any sort - chemical weapons, biological weapons, RPG's,
improvised explosive devices (IED's), missiles, dirty bombs, nuclear devices,
or assault weapons -- should be easily accessible.
“For 10 years there was a ban on the production, ownership
and use of assault weapons in the United States until Congress and the Bush
Administration allowed it to lapse when it sunset and came up for
reauthorization in 2004. Can our elected officials be counted on to reinstate
the assault weapons ban? Or does the blood stain of man’s inhumanity to man
live within all of us?”
—Tom Lehmann
I support background checks for anyone purchasing a weapon and imposing a waiting period; I support increasing age limits for those purchasing a gun; I support banning high-capacity magazines and modifications on semi-automatic weapons; I support banning semi-automatic and fully automatic assault rifles; I support holding firearms manufacturers of assault rifles legally liable for gun violence; I support red flag laws: legislation that will mandate prohibitions on concealed weapons and possession of firearms by people convicted of violent crimes and people who are considered a public threat; I support banning anyone from owning a weapon on no-fly or watch lists; I also support gun safety at home and keeping weapons away from children and teenagers.
ReplyDeleteHowever, instead of “sweeping” gun control laws that will affect law-abiding responsible citizens who own reasonable self-defense weapons for protection and may conceal and carry those weapons; instead of more political party accusations and useless prayers for the victims, legislators should focus upon and address the causes of violent crimes: domestic white nationalism, racism, bigotry (power, hatred, revenge, anger, notoriety), religious fundamentalism, economic injustice, poverty, unemployment, gang activity, drug trafficking, inefficient law enforcement in high-crime areas, suicide, mental illness and media's perpetuation of violence, fear, demagoguery and xenophobia.
Let’s pursue a policy goal that eliminates so-called “corporate personhood” (Citizens United): this corrupt, unlimited campaign spending from moneymaking, mendacious powers like the NRA and the Koch Brothers, et. al. that funds and coerces Republican legislators to ingratiate them. -Glen Brown