By Jeff Evans
Another couple dozen innocents have been killed by a deranged young man wielding an AR-15. Children and a couple teachers enjoying their last day of the school year in Uvalde, Texas. We should all be appalled by how numb we have become at the frequency of this type of carnage. But, this time, as it turns out, we may have reached a tipping point.
This time, the gunman chose as his weapon of death the civilian version of the military’s M-16. The only difference between the two is that the AR-15 is not sold as a fully automatic weapon, even though it can easily be modified to be one.
The speed of a bullet from one of these firearms is about 2,200 mph compared with the bullet from a 9mm automatic pistol of about 800 mph. What exactly does this mean in the real world? It means, any body hit with a round from an AR-15 suffers devastating injuries, removing limbs and heads, shattering bones, and causing grievous internal injuries.
This is why an AR-15 is useless for hunting. You literally destroy any game animal you shoot. Imagine what this does to a 10-year-old child.
So, if an AR-15 is off the table for hunting, what’s it good for? All I can think of is target practice at a firing range. That means the AR-15 is only good for fun. Fun. America has decided it’s apparently OK to allow civilians to arm themselves with weapons of war so they can go out and have some fun. And those folks who believe the assault-style weapons should be banned are accused of wanting to violate the 2nd Amendment. Those critics are simply wrong.
The 2nd Amendment does not prohibit certain types of weapons from being made illegal. It should also be noted that the 2nd Amendment as well as the Constitution were written 50 years before the bullet had even been invented. Those who adhere to the philosophy that the Constitution is a sacred and immutable document apparently don’t understand the history of their own country. We don’t continue to hold that black people are only worth 3/5 of a white person, or that women, or men without land holdings are the only ones allowed to vote.
It’s time to remove the ability to purchase military style assault rifles by ordinary civilians.
The fun is over.
Jeff Evans is the Publisher of The Island News and can be reached at edwardjeffreyevans@gmail.com.
