JRNYMAN wrote:And as I follow the news on CNN, it just pisses me off every time one of the newscasters refers to the MF responsible for this tragedy a the "suspected" gunman. Really? Have we become so entranced in our political correctness that we must extend these pleasantries and specific nomenclature to the individuals who have absolutely no respect for human life or what every one of his victims meant to someone in their respective lives?!
It's just one more situation where some over-the-top, out of touch with reality, mama's boy who probably got bullied all his life and instead of getting help to deal with the emotional trauma he experienced, he just kept festering and building up rage a little bit each day until finally, he takes his LEGALLY purchased assault weapons and does what this MF did last night. There isn't an argument that can be made that can successfully justify why civilians should have the access to, and the right to own that kind of weaponry. You don't hunt with them. You don't supply your own automatic weapons when you enlist in the armed forces. You certainly don't have a bonafide need for that kind of personal protection - at least not any place in this country, yet these kinds of things keep happening. I completely and whole heartedly agree with the 2md amendment and we must have the right to bear arms. However, the forefathers never dreamed that their carefully worded argument was important enough to place it 2nd in the list of rights they demanded, that it would include the kind of weaponry that could enable one individual to shoot 71 people in a matter of 120 seconds or so - 12 of them fatally. 71 people's lives will never be the same because of one sick bastard and the fact that he legally owned the kind of gun he did.
/rant
You need make sure you define "Assault weapon"..
"Assault weapon" is a non-technical term referring to any of a broad category of firearms with certain features, and there are a variety of different statutory definitions of assault weapons in local, state, and federal laws in the United States that define them by a set of characteristics they possess, namely:
- detachable magazine and a
- pistol grip
- folding stock or a
- flash suppressor
While often similar in appearance to military firearms, they are capable of
firing only once each time the trigger is pulled.
So of the guns used by the perp, assuming all are standard config:
1 - AR15
1 - Shotgun
2 - .40 cal handgun
Only the AK would be literally considered an "Assault weapon", as it has a pistol grip.
And as mentioned earlier, ALL of these weapons
fire only once each time the trigger is pulled. So any of these weapons would have enabled the shooter to "shoot 71 people in a matter of 120 seconds or so"...
More restrictive gun laws are not the solution. Better gun permitting (to weed out nutjobs) and training requirements are.