Young men with assault weapons

To the Editor:

We need to reinstate an assault rifle ban. I was shocked and angry to see the front-page story about the new group Tuolumne County Gun Owners, where one of the raffle prizes was an AR-15 rifle.

The military-style rifle went to a young man who is “familiar with the brand, and did not go to a firsttime gun owner,” said Mark Villaseñor.

Has our county gone crazy? There was a mass shooting on Nov. 19 at Club Q in Colorado, where five people were killed and 25 were injured. They were just enjoying a gay club, not expecting to be murdered by a deranged young man. Again and again, an evil person with an assault weapon decided to destroy the hopes and dreams of innocent people.

It would have been worse except that a few heroes took down the killer before he destroyed even more lives.

One man was on TV the morning of Nov. 22 talking about the seven gunshots to his back. I was in tears listening to his story.

Nov. 22, 1963, is the date that John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas; a day most of us suffered and grieved. Why is this disgusting love of guns so much a part of our country? It gets so that I don’t want to turn on the news. Other countries look at us with pity. This is a disgrace to our peace and happiness. A happy Thanksgiving will not be celebrated by the families who lost their loved ones to another young man with an assault weapon.

Sydney Taylor

Sonora