Ban assault weapons that make mass killings so easy

It’s a hunting rifle, popular for hunting students, churchgoers and concert attendees.

It’s a sport-shooting rifle, ideal for hitting moving targets like SWAT teams.

It’s a self-defense rifle, particularly suited to protect homes against an invading army.

Defenders of the AR-15 say the rapid-fire assault weapon and those like it — used in so many of our nation’s mass shootings — should be treated like any other gun relied on for hunting, sport shooting and selfdefense.

But the rising body count — which now includes 17 innocent Parkland students and school staffers — shows our nation can no longer bear this twisted interpretation of the constitutional right to bear arms.

The shooting rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14 provided another tragic example of why we can’t keep treating the AR-15 and other military-style assault weapons as just another rifle.

Yet in response to calls to outlaw the deadly tools that make mass murder so easy, President Donald Trump and Congressional leaders instead are offering to toughen background checks on gun buyers.

Yes, of course there should be more safeguards to stop criminals and the mentally disturbed from buying guns.

It shouldn’t have taken another school shooting, and a public shaming from Parkland’s students-turned-activists, to convince the president and Congress to revive an issue that should have become law long ago.

But better background checks alone aren’t enough.

Background checks don’t catch someone who hasn’t committed a crime or shown signs of mental illness. Not everyone who snaps has a record.

The perpetrator of the nation’s deadliest mass shooting — 58 concertgoers gunned down in Las Vegas last year — passed background checks while accumulating his military-style arsenal.

And just expanding background checks, while not outlawing AR-15-style assault weapons, fails to address the common denominator in our nation’s string of mass shootings.

In addition to the Las Vegas and Parkland, mass shootings using AR-15s and assault rifles like them include:

26 dead, First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs, Texas, November 2017

49 dead, Pulse nightclub, Orlando, June 2016

14 dead, San Bernardino, Calif., December 2015

26 dead, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Conn., December 2012

Going after the deadly tools repeatedly used in mass killings isn’t a kneejerk, political response. It’s the morally responsible thing to do. It’s a matter of public safety.

Despite what the National Rifle Association may argue, there’s no constitutional birthright to own an AR-15.

Yes, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Second Amendment protects citizens’ right to bear arms. But the court also allows imposing limits on certain types of guns and where guns can be carried.

Sales of AR-15s and other assault weapons were outlawed from 1994 until 2004, when Congress allowed that sensible guncontrol measure to lapse.

But while Congress so far refuses to restore that prohibition, the Supreme Court has allowed states to impose their own assault weapons bans. New York, Connecticut, Maryland and California are among those with assault weapons bans.

Republicans in control of the Florida Legislature, like their counterparts in Washington D.C., have refused to ban AR-15s.

This week, not even a visit by students who survived the Parkland school shooting could convince the Florida House of Representatives to give a proposed assault weapons ban a hearing.

Instead, after Parkland, Republican state lawmakers, Gov. Rick Scott and the president are focusing on tougher measures to stop the mentally ill from buying guns.

The president and some lawmakers have also said they would consider upping the age to buy an assault rifle from 18 to 21, like for handguns.

In addition, Trump agreed to revisit a ban on “bump stocks” — the firearms accessory that allowed the Las Vegas gunman to fire a steady stream of bullets at country music fans.

Those proposals are a start, but not good enough, according to the Parkland students. Amid their grief, they vow to keep pushing to ban weapons like the one used to kill so many of their friends and school workers.

When they are old enough to vote, students who faced the bullets in Parkland are unlikely to forget the elected leaders who chose protecting access to AR-15s over protecting children.

If only more mothers and fathers across the country, who already have the power to bring change on Election Day, would use their political muscle to go after AR-15s.

Don’t wait for someone to go hunting with one at your child’s school.