Dec. 19, 2012 —
“God, guns and guts made America free.”
We wonder if the author of that popular slogan inscribed on bumper stickers, tee shirts, and belt buckles is as proud of it today as they were before last Friday’s massacre in Connecticut.
In truth, that clever slogan was hijacked by the gun lobby to camouflage gun rights between God and the personal courage of our soldiers.
The slaughter of 20 children, six school staff members and the mother of the accused in Newtown was the 16th mass shooting in the U.S. this year alone.
We won’t mourn the suicide of the apparent mass murderer because he deserved to die and, in fact, saved the state time and money by putting a bullet through his obviously twisted mind.
Our nation is shocked and horrified and millions of parents and school children today no doubt are afraid it could happen to them.
One of the surprising pieces of evidence turned up thus far by police is that the killer had access to as many as six firearms, all legally purchased and owned by his mother, apparently the first person to die on that blackest Friday in American history.
The sickening image of as many as 11 high velocity bullets ripping into a six-year-old child is beyond comprehension, much less knowing that 19 other youngsters and six adults suffered the same fate.
U. S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said Sunday that she will introduce a bill to reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004.
The ban would cover weapons like the .223 Bushmaster rifle used in Connecticut, as well as oversized magazines for automatic pistols like the Glock and Sig Sauer found alongside the shooter’s lifeless body.
The gun rights crowd, led by the National Rifle Association, again will wrap its righteous indignation in the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
NRA legal, financial and political resources will be mobilized to oppose the assault weapons bill as they have in every state and city daring to enact any type of gun control.
In our view, the capability of a deranged person to fire hundreds of rounds in a matter of minutes inside a school was not what our founding fathers had in mind when the 2nd Amendment was adopted.
We believe it was intended for private citizens to have the right to own firearms to defend themselves and their homes and for hunting wild game.
Not for the coldblooded murder of innocents.
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