Lose paranoia, find solutions

Published 3:36 pm Monday, March 11, 2013

Sandy Hook Elementary is no longer news. Just as Virginia Tech, Columbine, Aurora, Tucson and others have faded away except for the awful memories of the victims. Now the news is that some assault-type weapons with 250 round magazines can be refit to machine gun like characteristics, you only have to pull the trigger once to empty the weapon and we already know that one of the more popular options for some weapons makes the gun capable of launching a grenade. By downloading the blueprints from the Internet, a man in Maryland is now making plastic parts for guns using a device called a 3-D printer. Wonderful. In no time at all we will all be able to make our own assault rifles.

As a gun owner and hunter for over 50 years now, I know we don’t need an assault rifle to hunt with or defend our home. A shotgun is an excellent weapon for defending yourself and is widely used to hunt with by millions. The same type weapon the LAPD issued to its people guarding their buildings when the cop killer was threatening to kill any cop on sight.

As long as there is a Second Amendment we will not stop gun violence completely. If you feel the need to defend yourself from the government, good luck there. I’m sure your puny AR15 will do a masterful job of fending off the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. Lose the paranoia and politics and work to find solutions. You just might even save someone in your own family from these tragedies.

Don Curtis

Clinton