Editorial uses killing done with Ruger .22 to call for ASB

[ericire12]

http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2009/04/20/opinion/doc49ebdc73b028e616920820.txt

Fifteen years ago, members of Congress enacted one of the most sensible pieces of legislation in the history of U.S. government.

They passed the federal assault-weapons ban. They didn’t deprive Americans of guns. They didn’t even force them to undergo waiting periods before buying them.

They simply made it illegal for civilians to purchase 19 named firearms with two or more “military-style features” including the Russian AK-47 assault rifle and the Israeli Uzi. They limited gun owners to ammunition magazines of no more than 10 bullets.

The 1994 legislation was championed by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who was appalled by the 1984 shooting rampage at the McDonald’s restaurant in San Diego that left 21 dead, and by the shooting deaths of five people several years later in a Stockton elementary school yard. The legislation seemed like a win-win situation.

People who kept guns for security purposes or for hunting still had weapons at their disposal while reduced accessibility to weapons designed for combat made Americans in general less vulnerable to mass attack.

Some unscrupulous gun manufacturers found ways to circumvent the law by marketing attachments that converted compliant weapons into non-compliant ones. One of them was used 10 years ago today by the two students responsible for the Columbine High School shooting rampage in Colorado, that ended in the deaths of 13 students, one teacher and the teen-aged gunmen themselves.

The Columbine massacre was a grim reminder of just how important it is to keep military weapons out of the hands of civilians. The federal assault-weapons ban was applauded by many, especially by law-enforcement officials nationwide.

But, despite their pleas, federal legislators allowed the ban to expire in 2004. And so, the carnage has continued.

The most horrific incident occurred on April 16, 2007, when senior English major Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students and faculty members before turning the gun on himself at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg. It was the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history.

Cho had a history of mental illness and clearly that should have been caught in a background check before he was allowed to purchase a 9 mm Glock 19 pistol and a box of ammunition in March 2007 from a Roanoke, Va., firearms store. However, if the federal assault-weapons ban had still been intact, Cho would not have been able to legally purchase a gun with a high-capacity magazine. The Glock has a capacity of 15 rounds with magazines available for up to 33 rounds.

Last week, Gov. Ed Rendell urged Congress to re-enact the federal assault-weapons ban. A longtime advocate of gun control, Rendell was especially motivated by the April 4 deaths of three Pittsburgh police officers who, while responding to a domestic disturbance call, were allegedly shot by a 22-year-old man wielding an AK-47.

“Time and time again, across the length and breadth of our great country, our police are finding themselves outgunned,” said Rendell.

Prospects for re-enactment of the assault weapons ban look slim if a letter written last month to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is any indication. Sixty-five House Democrats, five of them Pennsylvanians, indicated they would oppose re-enacting the ban.

Other than pleasing weapons manufacturers and gun-toting constituents, there can be no logical reason for their opposition. Cries that the ban would be unconstitutional ring hollow. Our Founding Fathers didn’t have in mind weapons that could mow down innocent citizens in a matter of seconds when they wrote the Second Amendment. Such high-powered weapons did not exist in the Revolutionary War era of militias.

The claim that criminals will acquire assault weapons no matter what the law doesn’t nullify the value of banning them.

It only stands to reason that the more guns in circulation, the more there are available to those who obtain them illegally through straw purchases and theft.

And while gun advocates are fond of invoking the cliché, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” they would be hard-pressed to prove that guns, especially assault weapons, don’t make it easier.

Delaware County residents experienced firsthand the consequences of assault weapons on Oct. 30, 1985, when Sylvia Seegrist opened fire with a Ruger .22-caliber semi-automatic rifle at Springfield Mall, killing three and seriously injuring six shoppers. She had purchased the military-style weapon for $104 from Best Products in Marple in March 1985.

But members of Congress need not remember that far back to understand the danger of assault weapons in the hands of civilians. In the last six weeks, 44 people have died in the United States due to rampages by gunmen. The largest carnage occurred on April 4 when a registered gun owner with permits for two semi-automatic rifles opened fire at a Binghamton, N.Y., immigration services center, killing 13 people and then himself.

How many more innocent Americans must die before federal lawmakers return to their senses and restore the assault-weapons ban?

[SwoopSJ]

More propaganda, more b.s.  I can't tell you what causes these people to go off the deep end and start killing innocent people, but I do know they would do it with or without a gun.  If a gun is not available a psycho will use a stick or a rock, if mass effect is desired... a bomb.  As to the recent killings, why don't we focus on fixing the economy and getting people back to work.  It's just my opinion, but the disparity caused by our economic situation is like pouring gasoline on a fire.  Instead of actually fixing the root of the problem and giving people a foolish thing like hope, lets go after their guns.  Then we can work on those pesky sticks and rocks.

Swoop

 

[tt11758]

What a friggin asshat.

[MikeBjerum]

Sylvia could have done more damage if she would have just run her car right through the doors and down the middle of the mall! Would be ban certain cars ... maybe Yugos if she did that?

I'm having a hard time being coherant here, because this more of the samo - samo that we must battle day in and day out.  It won't go away, so we must fight.  However, My face is getting flat from beating it on my desk.

[tt11758]

Sylvia could have done more damage if she would have just run her car right through the doors and down the middle of the mall! Would be ban certain cars ... maybe Yugos if she did that?

I'm having a hard time being coherant here, because this more of the samo - samo that we must battle day in and day out.  It won't go away, so we must fight.  However, My face is getting flat from beating it on my desk.

Your face?             

[Sponsor]

[TAB]

You remember brady right?  he was shot with a rossi 22 snubby...  those evil aw...

[Hazcat]

You remember brady right?  he was shot with a rossi 22 snubby...  those evil aw...

It was an RG Industries .22 snubbie.