While we discuss the 2nd amendment, let us also consider the progression of mass shooting events in historical context. Probably the most famous would be the killing of John Kennedy in 1963, which was committed with a hunting rifle from an upper floor of a book depository. Bobby Kennedy's killing was not a mass shooting, but was carried out with a .22 caliber handgun. Martin Luther King was killed with a hunting rifle. Then came the first of many mass killings, committed by Charles Whitman at the University of Texas observation tower, where he killed 11 and wounded 31 others over a 96 minute period with a hunting rifle. Since that time, the age of the mass shooter has escalated into what we are fighting today, maximum body count in minimum time!
I believe what we are seeing today started with the North Hollywood Bank shootout between 2 heavily armed and body-armored gunmen in 1997, where the police had to go to a local gun store and requisition semi-auto weapons because all they had at the time were service weapons. This was the beginning of police departments and criminals moving to military hardware, including the AR-15 and other semi- auto weapons. Since that time, with the over the counter availability of these types of weapons and the gun shows where a person can walk in and buy anything they want, we have progressed to a point of almost numbness to the slaughter of innocents through the possession of these weapons. I am a gun owner, have been most of my life. I don't recall ever even discussing the 2nd amendment, much less worry about going to school or a theater or a church or mall and fear being shot at random. But we didn't even have these weapons at our disposal until the late 90's. So tell me again how not having access to AR-15's and others is an infringement of your rights under the 2nd amendment! You have always had your guns, you have never had them taken away by a politician, so why now? What possessed you to feel so weak and fearful that you NEED an AR-15, or is it just the bravado of being able to walk among other fellow citizens and project your power over them because you can. That's not power, it's fear and weakness and self-aggrandizement. I am all for the ability to own rifles and handguns for sport and defense, but not military grade weapons for ANY purpose other than by the military. Hopefully the latest victims at Stoneman High in Parkland will finally bring enough pressure to bear on Congress to at least consider stopping this mass slaughter of innocents! Comments are closed.
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