Supplying the missing facts

Editor’s note: A version of this letter was published Wednesday but is being republished to correct an error introduced during the editing process.

In his column headlined, “Research spotty, but do we know enough to act on guns,” David Haynes asks, “Should we ban assault weapons?” (March 25).

Actually, there is no such thing. It’s only a name probably made up to scare the uninformed. Why is the AR-15 so labeled? What about the letters AR? Don’t they stand for “assault rifle”? No, they stand for ArmaLite, the company that originated the gun, and the number 15 is the model number. And yes, it is semiautomatic. That means one shot is fired for each trigger pull.

Haynes refers to “gun violence, which kills more than 30,000 people in the United States annually.” What he doesn’t explain is that nearly two-thirds of the victims are suicides.

And as for funding research, the just passed omnibus spending bill clarifies that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can conduct research but can’t use taxpayer funds to promote gun control.

These are a few facts that were left out of the column that should see the light of day in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Victoria Marone

Milwaukee