Sensible gun laws are needed now, but not to prevent reasonable people from keeping and owning firearms in the future. I am frustrated with the right wing of the Republican Party to stonewall this issue as being a puppet of the NRA. It is a time to act.

The first thing to help reduce the killings is to put reasonable controls on weapons designed to kill people first. Mass shootings are happening weekly and no one can monitor all the reasons the perpetrator may have. Social environment, mental conditions, short-fused anger, impossible to predict.

However, with all the firearms in our society, slaughter is predictable; visit a local gun store and see for yourself. The most popular sellers are AR-style semi-automatic rifles and semi-auto handguns designed for military use, which are available at most gun stores available for purchase the same day as wanted. The law requires a simple background check at licensed gun dealers but not for private purchase.

My near-term solution is focused on the weapons most likely used in mass killings. Require a license or permit for such weapons, require an age to purchase of 21 years old and a seven-day waiting period to receive your firearm. Limit magazines to 10 rounds. Provide a method to allow reporting of dangerous behavior to an appropriate agency, also known as a “red flag law.”

I could go on, but as a gun owner since I was 10 years old, I can see the pattern of how our society has changed in my seven decades of ownership. The mass shooting facts show a trend that is intolerable. We all need to demand change now.

 

Dana Sturtevant

Augusta

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