By Richard Ray:
Waking up to the news of more than 50 dead and over 500 others injured by a lone gunman in Las Vegas is disheartening. Of course my heart goes out to anyone that was hurt or killed in this senseless tragedy as well as to their families. Unfortunately mass shooting or casualties within the US and throughout the world are becoming far too common that “pray for _____” is the commonplace internet response.
I am in no way questioning anyone’s sincerity in the wake of such tragedies. People are genuinely moved by such tragedies, but inevitably it all gets packaged into a easily tweet able phrase. What unfortunately almost never happens in the wake of these mass shootings is any real talk or solutions toward eliminating these events; namely gun control.
I am no left wing bleeding heart liberal. I am a gun owner and an enthusiastic supporter of the 2nd Amendment with regards to my rights to defend myself and my family. However within the US we need to stop the madness in somehow thinking that the right to bear arms within the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution somehow means that gun ownership should in no way be regulated or legislated.
The 2nd Amendment reads in part: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” That was in the 18th century. Today we not only have a fully employed federal military to protect our country and its citizens domestically and abroad, we have regional and local police forces who’s sole function is to protect and serve its citizens. Even with these police forces I still support citizens rights to bear arms for protection, however can one person cite a clear and logical reason that any US citizen should ever have access to the kind of weaponry that Navy Seal Team 6 members use in combat?
While I wait for an answer that can can never come, further explain why US civilians should have accesss to military grade and police tactical weaponry. Why should US civilians have access to multiple guns, automatic assault weapons, weapons that can accurately shoot people several hundred yards away and enough ammunition to kill and injure hundreds at a time? The answer is a resounding no and never to US civilians having access and possessions to such weaponry… Those weapons are not about hunting… those weapons are not about self protection or of one’s family… those weapons are for warfare and killing as many people as possible… civilians should not have access to these types of guns and unlimited ammunition.
The reality is that even if miraculously sanity took effect and legislation was introduced to limit the further sale of automatic weapons to civilians, the reality is that many people already have them in their possessions and those people will NEVER relinquish those weapons. While that may be the case, we can change the laws in carrying states to limit the kinds of guns that civilians are legally allowed to carry outside of their homes (or unless in the direct route to and from a legal gun range), to be hand guns with a maximum ammunition capacity of 9-15 rounds. Possession of anything bigger, outside one’s home, should carry an automatic sentence of 10 plus years imprisonment as a deterrent.
Sensibility has to be invoked in discussion for gun control. No one believes that anyone is going to actually take away anyone’s guns or the right to own one, but universal legislation has to be passed in this country to limit the size and scope of the weapons that US citizens are allowed to own and carry outside of their homes.
I hate that these discussions only seem to truly occur in the wake of tragic circumstances, but real and sane conversations about the size and scope of weapons available to civilians needs to be had or tragedies like Las Vegas will not only continue but increase in size and frequency.
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