Says citizens don’t need automatic weapons

Over 200 years ago, when our Constitution was written, it permitted a well-regulated militia the right to keep and bear arms, not a bunch of religious fanatics or anti-government nuts occupying a bird sanctuary. Modern arms of that era were single-shot, muzzle-loading flintlocks. A large number of recent mass murders have been committed with what are commonly known as “assault rifles” and other auto-loading weapons. Sixty years ago, when I was a member of the NRA, they represented marksmanship, hunting, gun safety and training. Today I believe they represent the gun industry, fanatics who claim that arming everybody will reduce gun violence and those who feel that armed citizens are needed to keep our government under control. (I wonder how many of them vote?) No wonder that President George H. W. Bush resigned his life membership in the NRA in disgust.

I hunt, target shoot and could use my guns for personal protection, if needed. I have had training in clubs and the U. S. Army Infantry but do not feel that there is a need in the general populace for automatic, semiautomatic or auto-loading weapons with large-capacity magazines. In the interest of simplicity let’s quit trying to determine what an assault rifle is and ban all automatic, semiautomatic and self-loading firearms. These are strictly mass killing machines and we have had enough of that! We do not need AR-15s, AK 47s, Glocks, etc. for hunting, marksmanship or self defense.

This story was originally published January 14, 2016 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Says citizens don’t need automatic weapons."