A lack of restrictions

In what has become an all too common occurrence in the U.S., another mass shooting at one of our schools has occurred. It appears that all our leaders can do is to send “thoughts and prayers.” Conservative Sen. Marco Rubio says that gun restrictions would not have prevented this shooting. Conservative darling Tomi Lahren states, “this isn’t about a gun, it’s about another lunatic.”

But this is about a gun and a lack of restrictions that allow a lunatic to easily obtain a military-style rifle to carry out his horrific act. In the U.S. there is a three-day waiting period for background checks before a 21-yearold can buy a handgun. An 18-year-old can walk into a gun show and purchase an AR-15 type weapon within two hours without a full background check.

Conservatives as a group tend to say that gun restrictions violate an individual’s Second Amendment rights. Their idol, Ronald Reagan, supported the 1994 ban on assault-type weapons. In District of Columbia v. Heller, conservative bastion Justice Antonin Scalia stated: “Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited … .” It is “not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.” This 2008 decision by a conservative Supreme Court made it clear that weapons such as assault rifles could be banned. When will the current GOP-controlled Congress act?

Throughout U.S. history about 1.4 million troops have been killed during all wars. During the years 19682015, over 1.5 million U.S. citizens lost their lives in firearm-related deaths. We are rapidly adding to this total. When will enough ever be enough? Semper fi.

KENNETH R. WEBER Bella Vista