Important reminders about the gun debate

While I agree with the E-R Editor that dealing with bullies, bullying and the bullied in schools is an important consideration in trying to reduce the number of mass school shootings, it is not the only consideration.

The bullying culture in the United States extends far beyond the reaches of the public school classroom. I believe there would be general consensus that our former President, Donald Trump, almost quite literally wrote the book on the art of bullying, both through his business dealings and throughout his four years as president.

Important considerations regarding the gun debate in the United States:

Republican Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger once said, “The gun lobby’s interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American people by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime”.

In the US, there are over 393 million guns in civilian hands. The average gun-owning American has five firearms.

32% of Americans (81.4 million) personally own guns. The population of the US is 326.7 million.

There are 15 to 20 million-assault weapons in the US. The federal government has usually used the term ‘assault weapon’ to refer to a military-style weapon, semiautomatic or fully automatic, capable of firing multiple rounds.

Without modifications, an AR15 can “legally” fire about 60 rounds a minute (using 10 cartridge magazine clips). While illegal in many states, easily interchangeable magazine clips carrying up to 30 rounds can be purchased online.

— Mark S. Gailey, Chico