Some food for thought:
Just for the record:
Memorial Day Weekend Numbers [prelim] From 5pm Friday until 5am Tuesday.
Killed: 156
Injured: 412
Mass Shootings: 14
That was in the United States. Nowhere else.
There are approximately 400 million firearms in the United States. The military only controls 4.2 million of them, and law enforcement only 1.2 million. Of those, fewer than 5% are assault-style weapons. It is a manageable problem. Semi-auto handguns are another matter.
Over time, I've been all over the map regarding the Second Amendment and regulation. I've been persuaded one way, and then another. I'm neither a gun-nut nor a gun-hater, and mostly libertarian on the issue. I just want workable, legal solutions. We're in a very bad place, nationally, and much of the reason is bad faith actors.
The 1994 assault weapons ban was effective. I was a firm skeptic at the time (and an Army Captain), but data has overcome that skepticism. I was issued M-16s and M-4s, and I know how devastating they can be. The ban worked to reduce a
particular kind of violence. But, the politics of 2004 killed the ban and all hell has broken loose.
Gun marketers/NRA pushed AR ownership as if it were sliced bread and Christ's return rolled into one. They've repeatedly made false claims about their versatility and popularity, and pushed paranoid fantasies about self-defense as a marketing ploy. This is not the NRA of my youth.
That NRA promoted the 1968 Act, pushed the 1934 NFA, and was dedicated to gun safety and the public interest. Then Wayne Lapierre took the reins and it's been nutjob city, and the marketing arm of the gun industry, ever since.
Then the dishonest
Heller and
McDonald decisions gave gun nut world a veneer of legitimacy and it's been off to the races. After Sandy Hook, I thought reason might prevail. But, it became a culture-war political tool. It has been ever since, despite repeated incidents since.
The sophistry, dishonesty and bad faith behavior by so many has made me a gun control advocate. I still support gun ownership and even think the "reason" one
wants to own a gun is immaterial. But, I think it is well past time to consider the
public's interest in legislation, rather than personal interests and financial gain.
