by DOMINICK CROSS
When I was the age of the children slaughtered Tuesday, May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, our fears were about something completely out of our control: Mushroom clouds.
We had atomic bomb drills every now and then. Sure, hunkering down under a school desk would’ve done little to protect us from nuclear war, but, hey, one never happened, either.
Death by gunfire in school or anywhere, for that matter, was a faraway concept that never entered our minds, the minds of our parents or school officials.
The first death of a real live person by bullets that I was aware of was President John F. Kennedy in November 1963.
In high school, when death did arrive, the lives of my peers were lost in automobile accidents. In fact, from elementary school through high school, not one life was taken by a bullet, or a hail of gunfire.
Had gunshots rang out in the halls then, it would’ve been from a pistol, shotgun or hunting rifle. I would think there would’ve been time to escape or even encounter the shooter upon reloading.
Nowadays, mass murder in schools, grocery stores, places of worship — wherever — potential victims hardly have the opportunity to run or even attempt to stop the killer.
Why is that? In a word and where applicable: the AR-15.
To be clear, the “AR” in AR-15 does not stand for “automatic rifle,” but ArmaLite Rifle, the original maker of the weapon.
However, the rifle’s semi-automatic capabilities alone and the easy conversion to automatic status means little to those whose children and other loved ones have been killed by one.
“AR-15-style assault rifles have been a common trend in some of the deadliest mass shootings. These weapons possess an enormous amount of killing power because they can inflict what one of their designers called ‘maximum wound effect.’ These weapons are generally able to fire far more bullets at a faster rate than manual-action hunting rifles.” — Newsweek, 3/23/21, in a story headlined, ‘AR-15 Rifles Were Used in 26 Percent of the Last 80 Mass Shootings in America’
Also from the same story: “A 2018 study found that fatalities were lower when a federal ban on assault weapons was in effect between 1994 and 2004.”
How about that.
So, “What can we do about mass shootings in the U.S.?” The answer can be found in 1994 and the federal ban on assault weapons.
And I’d even take it further: Ban/Confiscate&Compensate/Destroy.
It’s stupid (and corrupt) Republicans, too.
NRA campaign contributions to John N Kennedy : $215,788
Bill Cassidy: $2,867,074
Well said.
Yes, thank you. And stop allowing the manufacture of these types of guns!
I suspect that real change won’t come until our money outweighs the money given to our members of congress by the NRA. Without that we may have to find ways to affect the other money given to elected representatives through the companies and agencies the majority of the electorate work for.
Excellent article with sound opinions, and a rational solution. I’d definitely vote for someone who proposed such a solution.
High capacity assault style weapons were not envisioned by the founding fathers when they wrote 2nd amendment! Those weapons are designed to efficiently kill people, and any society that fails to recognize the need to regulate them will pay a terrible price.