Two weeks ago it was a mass shooting by an 18-year-old male at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo, killing 10 adults. Last Tuesday it was a mass shooting by an 18-year-old male at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and 2 adults. While the settings and states were different, the common thread in both these tragedies was legal access to a weapon of mass destruction, an AR-15.
As I’ve posted before, I don’t have any trouble with responsible gun ownership. What does this mean to me? I believe that folks have the right to own pistols, shotguns, or rifles for hunting and shooting range purposes. I also believe that responsible gun owners should be trained to handle, shoot, and store their guns and ammunition safely. Children should not be able to grab a gun to play with, nor should a depressed teenager use a parent’s gun to commit suicide. There is no need for semi-automatic weapons or high-capacity magazines in a home. The only purpose for for these is mass murder with minimal skill required.
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is bandied about a lot on this issue. Muskets were the predominant firearm of the day. One shot and you’d have to spend a minute or two reloading the weapon to get a second chance at a deer or a marauder. If one takes the Constitutional Originalist view, muskets should be the only firearm allowed in a home. Just a thought.
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