A ‘cultish’ obsession with assault rifles
Just hours ago, former President Trump came less than two inches from being terminated by a blast from an AR 15 assault weapon during a rally in Virginia. Such episodes are completely anathema to American principles of nonviolence, fairness and justice.
Proponents of assault weapons state only a small percentage of such weapons are implicated in gun deaths annually. However, this ignores the reality that mass killings are most frequently associated with assault weapons!
The capability of these weapons is exceptional firepower and volume to do maximum destruction to human life in an abbreviated space of time.
A popular statement volleyed is: “Guns are not the enemy, it’s the person.” However, this assertion still “fires over” the primary question: How is it assault weapons are so accessible to disturbed and criminal minds? History shows that iconic legends as Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett never took lives out of wanton desire or pleasure!
It is critical to distinguish between guns/firearms and weapons. To many, the use and art of firearms, as embedded in the Second Amendment, is a bedrock part of American culture. Marksmanship was a skill to refine and respect. It was played out in an annual biological harvest of large and small game.
The artist’s reward was a single shot to game that touched ground never knowing it had expired! Not known among those who did not hunt was a deep regard and affection by the hunter towards the magnificence of the game harvested.
At present, only nine states prohibit the manufacturer and sale of assault weapons. Hawaii stands in the middle, only prohibiting assault pistols. It is disconcerting on the national level that the attraction to assault weapons, particularly the AR 15, has taken on cultish dimensions.
Primarily, the current generation is enamored with the weaponry. Popular declarations are: “I feel more powerful, stronger and more protected” or “having an AR 15 offers a sense of complete freedom.”
Thus, it remains doubtful the popularity of assault weapons will diminish, with their quick spray of firepower that doesn’t require an Izaak Walton journey of marksmanship.
Regardless, what can occur is much more stringent background checks and enforced consequences to the social pathology of those ignoring those legal requirements.
Jim Barker
Keaau
Please don’t set off fireworks early
People, this is what can happen when you choose to set off fireworks earlier than the Fourth of July.
My friend on Komo Street in Mountain View has successfully kept her cats indoors and her dogs outside for eight years. She brings the dogs inside on July 4 and on Dec. 31, after setting up the house for that.
On July 3, her neighbor set off fireworks, her dogs panicked, got inside the house and killed one of the cats — and she got to watch. Also, she had to get stitches because she tried to break it up and failed.
People, this is what can happen when you choose to set off fireworks earlier than the Fourth of July. Thanks a lot.
Mary Lee Knapstad
Volcano