Reader refutes gun control argument

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, then gun control is definitely insane. In his letter to the editor, Bryan Lynch called for the banning of 'assault weapons' and high capacity magazines. But the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban banned magazines over 10 rounds and assault rifles. It went so far as to ban guns that had features that looked like assault rifles, regardless of whether those features made the guns deadlier.

The ban expired in 2004, and studies performed by the Center for Disease Control, National Research Council, and the University of Pennsylvania failed to find any impact on gun crime. Banning high capacity magazines is a further exercise in futility, as millions of magazines would have to be confiscated. Of course, people with the right know-how can make their own, and if you can't stop illegal immigrants from crossing the border, how are you going to stop criminals from bringing 30-round mags?

The fact is, banning assault rifles or high capacity magazines will not prevent atrocities in our schools. The deadliest mass shooting in US history was the Virginia Tech massacre, committed with a handgun and a backpack full of magazines. Reloading a handgun simply doesn't take that long.

Finally, I have a question for Mr. Lynch: If you do not trust your neighbors with a certain class of firearms, why do you trust them with guns at all? Or knives? Or gasoline and matches? Perhaps you would feel safer living in New York, where owning a standard capacity magazine (Class D felony) is a crime more heinous than owning child pornography (Class E felony).

Benjamin Warren

Moses Lake