This is all they know how to do. This is what they want to do. Ban “assault weapons”, then move on to banning other weapons and ownership. Because it works well in California and Chicago
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That the suspected 19-year-old gunman in the Florida shooting was able to legally purchase an AR-15 rifle despite concerns about his mental health, a social media fixation with guns, alleged involvement with a white-nationalist group and boasts about killing animals underscores the complete failure of America’s political class to come to grips — or even to try to come to grips — with gun violence. Said teacher Melissa Falkowski, who sheltered 19 students in a classroom closet during the shooting, “The frustration is that we did everything that we were supposed to do . . . and still to have so many casualties. . . . I feel today like our government, our country has failed us and failed our kids and didn’t keep us safe.â€
No question there were several factors contributing to Wednesday’s shooting. The accused shooter is a troubled young man with a history of discipline problems. Those who knew him, as well as people in law enforcement, appear to have responded inadequately to signs of danger.
Sounds more like a problem with the person, not the gun. Oh, and it’s interesting that blame was placed on the people who knew him.
But here is the key fact: This country has no monopoly on troubled young men. We have no monopoly on hate groups. We aren’t the only place where people miss signs of danger in troubled young men. What distinguishes the United States from the developed world is our open market in the weaponry of war — in weapons whose chief purpose and selling point is their obscene ability to kill as many people as possible in the shortest burst of time.
Should we ban six shooters? How about bows and arrows? Knives? Swords? They are all weapons of war. The burst thing is cute, an attempt to make people think that the guns are automatic. Citizens are mostly forbidden from having the types of gun actually used by the military, ones which can shoot more than one bullet with each pull of the trigger.
Is it any surprise that the weapon used in this week’s carnage was the same style of semiautomatic assault rifle that was used with deadly efficiency at a concert in Las Vegas, a Texas church, an Orlando nightclub, a Connecticut elementary school? These weapons designed for combat, accompanied by multiple ammunition magazines, have become the weapons of choice for mass shooters. It is time for a national ban on their sale and possession. Now, before the next set of parents face the unimaginable agony of the phone call that never gets answered.
All weapons are designed for combat. That’s why they’re called “weapons.” The last assault weapons ban did not work. The latest incarnation wouldn’t, either. And people could still get the exact same gun in a separate form. Just because it’s not scary looking doesn’t mean it won’t fire the same bullets at the same rate of fire (one per trigger pull).
Say, maybe if the Washington Post’s buddies in Hollywood and the entertainment industry could stop glorifying the use of assault weapons in gratuitous ways in their movies and tv shows. Oh, and perhaps the Democratic dominated education system could stop destroying morals, start teaching responsibility, stop teaching “if it feels good, do it”, and end the idiocy of teaching kids to take great action when one is Offended.
