Letter to the Editor / IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
By ROGER C. KOSTMAYER
Unlike other advanced nations, the US government hasn’t learned or done anything about protecting citizens from mass murder by domestic terrorists and from other gun causes. But the majority of Americans of all persuasions have. They want real, comprehensive and reasonable solutions – and they want them now.
The US population has 50% of the world’s lethal weapons held by civilians, some 400 million. That’s more guns than people. And many of those are military weapons specifically designed to kill as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. No society, no hunter, sportsman, or civilian, much less white supremacist, should have such weapons. Our nation is facing a crisis – a national security crisis involving hate groups, a national health crisis involving deaths of children, religious groups and minorities from guns, and a national moral and cultural crisis about doing what’s best for people – or for gun manufacturers, lobbyists and the NRA.
Unfortunately, there’s no single legislative remedy that can perfectly solve all aspects of this complex crisis, so a holistic and comprehensive approach is long overdue. If elected public servants listened to the people, a comprehensive solution would include banning military weapons and ammunition, requiring thorough universal background checks, authorizing “Red Flag” preventive intervention with those who represent a serious threat to themselves or others, and other reasonable bipartisan solutions. On the other hand, allowing an effective comprehensive solution to become a political compromise, that just nibbles at the problem one more time, would be tragic and like giving the American people half a haircut.
New Zealand, a democracy of rugged individuals, faced a horrific gun tragedy by implementing a complete solution in a matter of weeks – because the people knew it was the right thing to do, as do you and I, and the politicians did their job. Are we not able to rise to that same level?
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No military weapons. Background checks. Red flag law. These actions won’t solve the problem but will help.
After Bill Clinton banned assault weapons in 1994, mass shooting deaths dropped by 43%. After the Republican Congress let the ban expire in 2004, they shot up by 239%.
We don’t need to arm teachers; we need to ban assault weapons, again.
No one can own any real military weapon without special licensing! Those that look like military weapons are imitations, but just as dangerous. No one needs anything that shoots more than one round at a time or has a clip with more than 3 rounds. Real hunters laugh at idiots who walk into the woods with chrome plated Howitzers and Bowie Knives. In actually, no sane human on this planet needs any sort of weapon, but being not a very sane form of humanity, we are still in the kill and eat cycle of development. Someday all humans will understand we are no better than insects, or animals. Just think if humans were on the menu!