In the Wake of Sandy Hook...........
Just a reminder to everybody calling for a renewed Assault Weapons Ban.
The Columbine massacre happened right in the middle of it, 5 years
AFTER it was implemented (1994), and some of the firearms they used were
assault weapons as defined by the ban. How did that happen, they were
banned??
Also, while we're
discussing the Clinton era AWB which expired in 2004 it should be noted
that violent crime and firearms related homicides have dropped every
year since it expired in 2004, while gun sales have gone up
dramatically.
...
Going forward, if our legislators want real
solutions the discussion needs to be about school security and
addressing the needs of the mentally ill, not more bans and restriction.
How about hiring police officers to guard the schools, or returning
veterans, or arming school staff and/or teachers like they do in Israel?
My guess would be that the people screaming the loudest about
restricting guns, would be the first to start screaming about increased
taxes to pay for the security. The same people screaming for more gun
control are also for the most part the same people who fought to shut
down mental hospitals, and move the patients to group homes or release
them entirely, because their confinement was inhumane.
We hope
that our legislators finally get around to reforming the real issues
now. It's been 13.5 years since Columbine and they're still calling
plays from the same old book.
How about we address the problem thru facts and logic, and not via an emotional response?
Jon,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. I am not in favor of assault weapons with large magazines, but that is not the root cause of mass murder, it is mental illness. We have been so concerned about the "rights" of criminals and disturbed people that the rights of the rest of us have been trampled.
Judy
The large capacity magazine argument is a red herring. Any shooter with any amount of practice can change out a magazine and reload in about 2-3 seconds, so if the "shooter" has 4 - 10 round magazines instead of one 40 round one. He will lose about 12 seconds of shooting time, when the police are anywhere from 5-10, maybe 15 minutes away. That doesn't make a whole lot of difference in the final outcome.
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