I’ve had it. Enough is enough
Witness Atlanta, Blacksburg, Charlestown, Chattanooga, Colorado Springs, Columbine, Edmund, Fort Hood, Iowa City, Killeen, Minneapolis, Newtown, Omaha, Orlando, Roseburg, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, and Tucson.
The sample list of towns is where assault guns in the wrong hands have taken out innocent lives. Ninety-two percent of Americans are saying “commonsense gun reform is long overdue” … 92 percent.
How many more deceased by gunfire will it take before our elected federal and state officials realize that they need to become an advocate for and promoter of enhanced gun control?
Could part of the answer for no action be that the NRA has given moe than $11.9 million to 5,419 different political filers over the past 26 years? Since 1990, the following has been donated by the NRA to Iowa’s congressional members: Sen. Chuck Grassley, $46,150, Rep. Steven King, $20,400, Sen. Joni Ernst, $9,900, Rep. David Young, $4,950, Rep. Rod Blum, $3,500, and Rep. Dave Loebsack, $0. (All but Loebsack, Republicans.)
Not all gun owners agree with the policies of the NRA. Most hunters support reasonable gun control because they are adherent followers of all sorts of regulations when they go hunting.
Knowledgeable gun owners know the Second Amendment is not going to be eliminated. They know there are more than 280 million firearms in America, and not one officer of the law or government agency is going to go hunting, pun intended, door-to-door to seize guns.
It’s time for gun owners and non-gun owners to stand up and say to their federal and state legislators: “The NRA does not represent us. You represent us. We are tired of senseless killings by people who are not responsible gun owners. We want commonsense gun-control reform. We want it now.”
It’s sad that our state and federal lawmakers know that since Sandy Hook, one child under the age of 12 is shot to death every day. Our politicians also know that 27 people are killed every day as a result of gun violence and millions more have been the victim of assaults, robberies, and other crimes involving a gun.
Hundreds of thousands of people have committed suicide with a gun, and another half a million people suffered other gun injuries. Hundreds of law-enforcement officers have been shot to death protecting their communities.
Despite the facts, I can only surmise that our state and federal legislators don’t have the spine to put a stop to this gun-violence nonsense.
The gun laws can only be fixed through legislation:
1) If you sell firearms, whenever and wherever, you must get a license with license revocation for life, criminal sentencing up to five years, and $250,000 fine as a penalty for failure to follow the law.
2) No firearm can be sold for at least 10 days of the request to purchase a gun and it can only be sold after a thorough background check has been conducted.
3) Enhanced background checks, including a check on criminal history records, criminal dispositions, no-fly lists, terrorist watch lists, mental illness, and domestic violence are mandated for all prospective gun buyers.
The Justice Department statistics reports our modest background check system has already prevented more than 2 million guns from getting into the wrong hands. In 2015, National Criminal Background Check System received more than 22.2 million background check requests (63,000 per day). Wouldn’t an enhanced gun ownership background check system make Americans safer? — 92 percent of Americans think so.
Guns that responsible hunters and veterans feel they may legally own include: .22-caliber rifle, 12-gauge shotgun, varmint rifle, woods rifle, long-range rifle, and .45-caliber revolver.
All Americans are advocates of the Second Amendment and concur magazines holding 10 bullets or more and the following military-style assault weapons are not needed by the common person but may be owned by a law-enforcement officer or a member of the U.S. Armed Services: AR-15, AK-47, .223 SIG Sauer, FN SCAR, HK 416, ACR, M4A1, M16 Rifle, Heckler & Koch G36, FN FAL, Steyr AUG, M4A1 SOPMOD, FAMAS, Galil, Tavor TAR-21, M14, AK-74, M16A4, Ak XM8, Ak 12, XMB, AN-94, and CAR-15.
Contact your state and federally elected representatives and demand commonsense gun-control reform.
Steve Corbin
