A lack of firearms knowledge shows

The Letters section on May 29 featured sincere letters from individuals concerned about public safety, yet whose assertions undercut their own arguments by displaying thin knowledge of firearms. One writer decried “the ludicrous contention that automatic weapons are appropriate tools for personal defense.”

Actually, automatic weapons are very appropriate for personal defense because they are often state-of-the-art items. If automatic weapons were not appropriate for personal defense, the Army and Marines would not use them. Contrary to the letter writer's apparent belief, truly automatic weapons (“machine guns”) cannot be purchased by an average citizen at a sporting goods store. Such a purchase is strictly regulated by federal law, including extensive background checks, thus such weapons are rarely possessed by average citizens, and thus such weapons are not part of the current problem.

Another writer demanded

“no more military assault weapons.” Yet again, we have little-tono actual knowledge of firearms in this statement. True “military assault weapons” are the full-automatic weapons noted in reference to the first writer, ergo, strict laws and agency regulations already prohibit the average citizen from owning “military assault weapons,” so those are not the problem. A big part of the problem is people not taking the time to learn the facts before demanding solutions already in place which thus would do nothing to move things forward in this realm. “All heat, no light” emotionalism rarely enables practical solutions.

— Broeck Oder, Pacific Grove