LETTER TO THE EDITOR: It's time for action on assault weapons
Saturday, December 15, 2012 | 3:29 p.m. CST
BY
Linda Kaiser
Once again we are watching the news about someone killing kids with a semi-automatic weapon.
How many more times will we have to watch this kind of story before Congress enacts an effective ban on assault weapons? How many more children have to die before Congress provides adequate funding so that existing laws regarding background checks on purchases of guns are effective? How many more people have to die before kits to convert single shot weapons to semi-automatic weapons are prohibited?
How many more?
Linda Kaiser is a Columbia resident.
Like what you see here? Become a member.
Report corrections or additions here. Leave comments below here.
Leave a comment
Speak up and join the conversation! Make sure to follow the guidelines
outlined below and register with our site.
You must be logged in to comment. (Our
full comment policy is here.)
- Don't use obscene, profane or vulgar language.
- Don't use language that makes personal attacks on fellow commenters or
discriminates based on race, religion, gender or ethnicity.
- Use your real first and last name when registering on the website. It will
be published with every comment.
(Read why we ask for that here.)
- Don’t solicit or promote businesses.
We are not able to monitor every comment that comes through. If you see
something objectionable, please click the "Report comment" link.
You must be logged in to comment.
E-mail
Print
Show Me the Errors 
Comments
"kits to convert single shot weapons to semi-automatic weapons"
Actually there are no such kits. I think the author is confusing kits that convert certain semi-automatic weapons to fully automatic weapons. These are largely illegal, and irrelevant. Converted weapons are virtually never used in crimes of any sort.
The Connecticut shooter used a couple of semi-automatic pistols, not "assault weapons". They're weapons similar to what a policeman carries. Please get your facts straight before writing a letter like this.
DK
Well, DK, your note implies we give a pass to semi-automatic pistols because cops use them and because they're not "assault weapons." Yet weren't these weapons covered in the Clinton administration's assault weapons ban?
That aside, the semi-automatic weapons were used to assault and kill 28 of our fellow citizens. Aside from cops and the military, why should they be allowed? People going to blow away a deer with such a weapon? If so, they should have their hunting licenses revoked. And if it cuts into their so-called "target practice" pursuits, so be it.
This article is called "bear shaving."
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/...
History has shown quite adequately that you cannot stop a person (who has the element of surprise) willing to die with their carnage or for their cause, e.g., WWII, terrorists, this guy, etc.
You can make it more difficult, causing them to search for another avenue, and you can minimize the damage after it starts....but that's about it.
The weapon-of-choice has nothing to do with it.
hank -We know your answer,and as well, your intent and agenda. Why would you not even consider anything, regarding the safety, or well being, of an individual American citizen? Should the terrorized citizen stay close to, or in the home, hoping that "police" with their authorized weapons arrive in time to save them? You know as well as uneducated I, that those 400 hundred, hacked to death with machetes in Rwanda were killed by their government, the only ones holding machetes. It has become a sage saying, "the 2nd amendment ain't about deer hunting!" Limit it to the secular and your plans for America are still, "unholy".
hank ottinger wrote:
"People going to blow away a deer with such a weapon?"
I'd hope no one would hunt a deer with a 9 mm pistol. It would be inhumane - you'd likely have to shoot the deer several times unless you got very lucky the first time.
Semi-automatic pistols were not covered under the Brady ban. Certain semi-automatic rifles were, and the criteria for what constituted an "assault weapon" had little to do with how actually deadly they were. That's why it was repealed.
Keeping guns away from the mentally ill is what we should be talking about here. If the mother of the shooter had kept her guns locked up when he was around, it would have been a lot harder for him to get them.
DK
A quick correction - magazine size was covered under the Brady bill. You could have no more than 10 rounds/magazine. However, there was no limit on the amount of magazines you could have, so it really didn't matter.
DK
hank ottinger wrote:
"People going to blow away a deer with such a weapon?"
Well yes actually people do go hunting with handguns.
http://voices.yahoo.com/5-great-deer-hun...
When a gun loads itself and goes out among the public to initite killing--we have a gun problem. Since that phenomenon does not exist-we have a people problem.
http://tobacco.health.usyd.edu.au/assets...
Hank, I believe the rifle that Lanza used is a smaller caliber than most people use to deer. It's been a while since I've done so and seen what people use, but I'll wager that more people use semi-auto rifles than bolt action, shot at a time, weapons. Michael may be able to tell me if my guess is accurate.
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Ar...
Australia and UK: http://www.captainsjournal.com/2012/07/2...