Dear Editor,

Regarding gun violence:

I am a gun owner, more so than most people; and would gladly give up my assault rifles if sensible and enforceable gun control is enacted. The Second Amendment is in no danger from enhanced background checks and controlling access to certain types of weapons and for certain people. The NRA has corrupted the intent of the Second Amendment for profit and political purposes to make people fear the government will come to take their weapons. That hasn’t worked out very well. The only people fearing the government are those conservatives who think everyone else is the enemy. It didn’t work when conservatives thought Obama was going to take away their guns. Obama respected the Second Amendment and free speech, and the rest of the Constitution. The threat to gun ownership has never materialized and neither the NRA nor the Republican Party can stand to admit it.  

Solution to the mass killing of innocents? There are some. 

Assault rifles have no place in a civilian population. They are weapons of war. If Second Amendment fanatics are allowed to own an AR or AK then more often than it should happen someone will find a crowded place and see what killing people feels like. An assault rifle with a 30-round magazine isn’t a hunting rifle or home defense weapon, so stop using the easy but false excuses. Mine stays in the safe and is seldom fired. Besides, a 30-round magazine of ammunition costs a little over $10. Kind of expensive entertainment for a Saturday afternoon. Admit it’s a feeling of inadequacy that makes you want the “biggest gun” you can buy. 

How about pistols? They are the real home defense weapon. Limit magazine size, enhance background, police, and mental health checks, and make biometric access to the weapon mandatory on all new sales. 

Similar limitations for revolvers.

Shotguns and conventional rifles, pistols, and revolvers of any caliber should be easily available for those who pass the checks and can afford them. 

Following a “grandfathering in” period, weapons not properly registered and owners not properly vetted should be subjected to mandatory legal remedies; jail sentences and/or fines. 

People with guns kill. A gun without a person generally doesn’t and a person without a gun may, but not as efficiently as he or she can with a gun. You don’t usually hear of someone with a steak knife walking into a school and killing26 adults and children. Non-Firearm weapons don’t cause the carnage caused by an individual with an assault rifle. 

With “rights” come responsibilities. Every American is responsible for the carnage caused by a few; and can correct that error at the ballot box and by ending support for the NRA.

End the madness. Sensible gun control is American and makes sense.

Edward Marshall

Boston