Dear Editor,

It’s time to stop the sale of AR-15s immediately. We should contact Congressmen Austin Scott and Sanford Bishop and Senators Johnny Isakson and David Perdue and ask them to make our communities safer. Ask them to ban the sale of these terrible weapons for civilian use, enhance our background check laws for all gun purchases, and provide better screening and treatment for those with mental health issues. And to make our communities even safer, the new law should issue a voluntary, generous buyback for AR-15s now owned by citizens across our country. Rather than debate about the numbers of guns owned by civilians in our country, we must recognize that one AR-15 in a civilian’s hands is too many.

This plea is not about taking away guns from citizens, but it is about asking all of us to look into our souls and do something together that we can’t do as individuals. It is possible to make our communities safer, and banning the sale of these lethal weapons is a place to start. Isn’t it time to start a movement to stop large scale violence and give our law enforcement a better chance to enforce laws without facing these military-style weapons when they are answering a call for help?  What’s wrong with this simple call for action?

Grant Plymel, Thomasville