I would offer a couple of seldom-made points regarding the current gun control debate.
There exists a wide range of arms, from slingshots and BB guns to ICBMs with thermonuclear warheads. No one, even in the National Rifle Association, argues that civilians should possess fully automatic rifles, mortars, tanks, rocket-propelled grenades or land mines, let alone thermonuclear weapons.
We already restrict the amount of firepower that civilians can possess by keeping people-killing military weapons out of the hands of civilians. Where then, does a sane society draw the line?
Indeed, we have drawn the line at fully automatic military assault rifles, and successfully keep military hardware out of the hands of civilians.
AR-15s are military-grade weapons, designed to kill large numbers of people in a short time. By what reasoning do we then allow these weapons to be in the hands of civilians? They are unsuitable for hunting and, unless one is expecting an invasion in their neighborhood from the North Korean army, unnecessary for personal defense. A bedside Glock 9mm will stop a burglar or home invader.
The main reason for owning an AR-15 seems to be that they are lots of fun to shoot. I would ask the advocates of unrestricted access to AR-15s to weigh their pleasure in shooting one against the tragic slaughter of our precious children (and adults!) with these weapons.
The Second Amendment states that a militia must be “well regulated.” To my mind, this opens the constitutional possibility of well regulating the sale of AR-15s and high-capacity magazines as we already “well regulate” other military hardware.
It is time for a rational discussion on how to end the slaughter, including both better screening and mental health services and a ban on assault rifles and their magazines. Please people, it is past time for sanity. The lives of our children and grandchildren are at stake.
Ron Feintech
Portland
Send questions/comments to the editors.
-
Forecaster OpinionMainewhile: The time that is given us
-
Community News
Births
-
Times Record Opinion
Letters: Reflections on 4 years of strife; Nuclear treaty is wake-up call
-
Times Record Opinion
John Micek: Impeachment isn’t about Trump crossing the Rubicon
-
Times Record
The Recycle Bin: The basics of household recycling and plastics processing
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi {SUB NAME}, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have one? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login to participate in the conversation. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.