Editor:
In response to Judy Brenholt:
1. Black powder firearms were available when the Second Amendment was drafted. Taking your question to its logical conclusion suggests only 18th century firearms should be covered by the 2nd Amendment. That would leave law abiding citizens with 18th century weapons facing criminals with modern firearms.
2. You define an "assault" rifle as one "capable of firing untold number of bullets per second,", which is a machine gun. They are already illegal for anyone not having a special license. I have yet to see where one has been used in any of these horrific crimes. All rifles are designed to kill, not just "assault" rifles (whatever your definition). Because all guns are designed to kill, not just "assault rifles, we'd have to outlaw all guns. Then law abiding citizens would be unarmed facing armed criminals.
3. Are "untold" capacity magazines designed to kill human beings?: No, they're designed to hold ammunition for the firearm. I've never heard anyone that had to defend themselves say they had too much ammunition. Might you miss or might there be several bad guys? If you had to defend your grandchild, how much ammunition would be too much?
4. Why do we have armor piercing bullets?: To pierce armor, not for hunting or typical self defense. Hunting bullets, and those specifically designed for self defense, are much more lethal than armor piercing bullets. Hunters, and those buying for self defense, don't use them for those purposes. And mass murderers don't use them, either.
5. Yes, the Colorado and Connecticut tragedies increased the profits of gun manufacturers. However, I don't understand how reducing their profits will reduce these tragedies. If that were the case, we could prohibit gun manufacturers making a profit and that would stop all mass killings. But, it wouldn't.
6. The NRA leadership is focused on the rights of the American people to legally bear arms. The words "American people" include all of us who can legally possess firearms, not just its 4.3 million members. The NRA supports severe penalties for those that possess guns illegally.
Rick Corbitt
Dolores
Via email