Gun violence needs legislation, not prayers

We now live in a world where a mass killing is not much different than a weather report. People killed by assault rifles are spoken of with the ordinary sameness as those killed by tornadoes. It’s just what happens when things go bad.

Well, I don’t buy it. Mass shootings are not some uncontrollable meteorological event. The death they use are weapons we can completely control.

The function of an assault rifle is to shoot as many people as possible as quick as you can so they can be overrun. In war, this is a tactical advantage for ground combat, but in civilian life, it is a recipe for death.

Guns that can fire rapidly have no place in sport hunting or target shooting, nor do magazines that hold dozens of rounds. People who think they need both because they may someday have to hold the government at bay are basically domestic terrorists.

The Second Amendment says nothing about how quickly you can obtain your “arms,” only that you may. The primary reason someone needs a gun in a hurry is to do something emotionally based that is likely a very bad idea. Waiting weeks, if not months, to obtain a weapon is mostly unreasonable to those who probably shouldn’t have one in the first place.

Republican politicians only pray for the victims of gun violence, even when they are already killed in a church, but refuse to pass gun control legislation that might slow, if not stop, the carnage.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Gun violence needs legislation, not prayers."