Your Opinion: Time to examine gun laws
Sunday, January 13, 2013
There have been several letters to the editor concerning gun regulations. I have not seen the actual proposal for new legislation, but I, like many have heard several ideas being bantered about for new restrictions.
Some of the proposed changes to current legislation seem to offer hope while still allowing reasonable gun ownership. I support background checks for all who purchase guns, including those who buy guns at gun shows. I support a limit on the amount of guns that can be purchased at one time.
I strongly support stopping the sale of assault rifles and guns with extended magazines that fire large amounts of bullets without reloading.
Doing these things does nothing to prevent fairminded citizens from owning guns for personal protection or sport. I have not heard one person say that they want to take guns away from law-abiding citizens.
The bigger issue here, to me, is for those in office to start acting like adults. How many more mass shootings must we endure? How many more children must die? Could the recent deaths in Newtown be prevented? I don’t know but what’s wrong with sitting down and discussing the issue?
We owe it to those we’ve lost to try. Why does an individual need an assault rifle? The main reason for such a weapon is to shoot large numbers of bullets in a very short time, an average of six bullets a second. What average citizen has a need for such a weapon? Why should anyone be allowed to buy a gun without a background check? Why should anyone be allowed to buy more than five guns at a time? If we restricted assault weapons and large ammunition clips would we prevent individuals having guns for their own self-defense or sport? I hardly think so.
Will there continue to be places in our country where the vulnerable go unprotected? Probably. No one will be able to fully secure a school, church, or hospital from an individual with weapons such as those used in Newtown. Those intent on doing such harm continue to be difficult to identify and stop.
It’s time to look to those in mental health for information to understand these folks on the fringes. With so many returning from war with post-traumatic stress we especially need work here.
We can do better. It’s time.
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