SINCE NEWTOWN, 4,118!

SINCE NEWTOWN, 4,118!

(Associated Press, MY Slate, ABC OTUS news, ABC News, YAHOO News, Frazer Chronicle)

 

I’ve got lots of friends who hunt, I’ve got a few friends who shoot guns for fun, and I know some people who don’t own guns who think it’s alright for people to own guns. I guess I fall somewhere between people who own guns to hunt, and those folks who figure it’s alright to own a firearm. If you ask me what an assault weapon is…..I guess I’d have to say that initially I wouldn’t have an answer.

 

However not having an answer to what constitutes an assault weapon doesn’t mean I won’t find out, you know this is the age of the computer, the internet…..and some pretty fast and fancy informational stuff is right at my finder-tips.

 

So an assault weapon is made up of what components, what are its capabilities, how many rounds will an assault weapon fire in a second, or a minute, all legitimate questions. Military-style semi-automatic firearms do not differ materially from non-military style semi-automatic firearms, (one bullet is fired for each pull of a trigger).

 

Surprisingly most assault weapons are less powerful then your average hunting rifles, the AR-15, a version of the military M16 which I used during my military service, is a .223 caliber rifle. Typical when rifles of this caliber are used for hunting, it is usually for knocking down small game. Deer hunting weapons usually have a more powerful .24 to .30 caliber bullet.

 

ASSAULT WEAPONS

When I was in the military, in basic training we used the trusty and crusty M1, hand me downs from the latter stages of the World War II. When I was trained as a medical 910 medic, we were issued the brand new M16 that had either a 5 or 10 clip magazine.

 

I also shot a sub machine gun of some sort, a .45 pistol, and some sort of a bazooka type weapon, can’t remember, we’re talking more than 45 years ago. The M1 or the M16 was a capable weapon and I have absolutely no doubt that either rifle, in the right hands would have been as lethal an assault weapon as there is today.

 

But here are some other assault weapons for you to ponder, those of you who either own or posses assault type weapons no doubt have heard of some that appear on the list that I have prepared. I’ve included the country of origin, (maker) and which country uses them:

2B-A-40, Soviet Union

80.002, Soviet Union

AC-556, United States, used by U.S. United Kingdom, Australia, Bermuda

AK-47, Soviet Union, used by many nations

AK-63, Hungary, used in Hungary

AK-74, Soviet Union, used by many nations

AK-101, Soviet Union, Used in many nations

AKM, Soviet Union, many nations

BAKALOV, Bulgaria, Bulgaria

AVB-7.62, Russia

BERETTA, Italy, Italy

BSA 28P, United Kingdom

BUSHMASTER, United States

 

I could go on, I have the time, but I believe that some readers would become bored, and move on to other issues of the day. Suffice it to say that there are hundreds of assault weapons out there that are being manufactured by many companies from around the world that can be counted as assault weapons!

 

Gun makers in the United States alone number more then 150, and worldwide this number increases into the thousands. My point is simple; with all the gun makers out there is it any wonder that there is strength in their numbers.

 

Weapons and ammo makers, and I’m sure their subsidiaries are so far detached from the average guy on the street that they have little idea of what their some of their weapons mean to a person who is out of touch with reality, or has some sort of mental problem that is just waiting to kick in.

 

SOME DEADLY ACTIVITY AND REACTION

 

I will offer this sad story out of Nashville, Tennessee where a 4 year old boy grabbed a loaded pistol apparently from a bed and shot to death the wife of a Tennessee sheriff’s deputy. The tragic accident, (I’m assuming it was an accident because 4 year old babies don’t usually try and shoot people,) happened when the Wilson County Deputy Dan Fanning was showing his weapon to a relative in a bedroom.

 

The toddler came into the room, picked up the unattended revolver from the bed; it discharged hitting Josephine Fanning and killing her. Now any good N.R.A.er would immediately remark the “the boy shot the women, not the hand gun,” and he’d be right, so let’s take the kid out, throw a rope over a branch and hang him by the neck until he’s dead.

 

But of course the N.R.A.er would be ignoring the fatal flaw in his attitude…..if the pistol wasn’t on the bed in the first place, if the kid would have been under the watchful eye of an adult, or if Josephine Fanning wouldn’t have walked into the room at the precise second, she’d still be alive today, but that’s not how it happened, so a toddlers life is changed forever, a women is dead, and the families that are involved will never be the same…..just because of a gun!

 

I’d like to make it perfectly clear at this juncture that I have absolutely nothing against people who own a gun, bear no ill will towards gun and ammo makers. If a guy wants to go out in the woods and scare up wildlife so that he can shoot at it, go for it. If this same guy wants to take his kid in the woods and teach him the finer points and the respect necessary when handling a weapon, great.

 

But then do not turn around and tell me that guns and people aren’t responsible for gun deaths…..cause they absolutely are. Granted guns do not pull their own triggers, but without the triggers, the gun wouldn’t fire. Since Newtown there have been four thousand one hundred and eighteen gun deaths in the United States.

 

When I read the figure in researching for this blog I never ever dreamt that there would be 4,118 deaths since December 14, 2012. This guy at MY SLATE does one hell-of a job, he has a statute of a person on his data base for each death from a firearm, and if you click on the statute, the person, their age, and the date of the shootings are shown.

 

It’s a war out there my friends, albeit undeclared, but non-the-less a war, one that we are losing with each passing day. There aren’t any uniforms, and of course not everybody has a weapon, but there are battles on the streets of Chicago, Los Angles, and Birmingham.

 

HERE’S WHAT WE NEED TO DO!

It’s so simple to me I can’t believe that nobody else has thought of the remedy, I’m not extra smart, I do not have college degrees hanging off the walls, and it’s for damn sure I ain’t no stinking therapist, I’m just a regular guy that’s trying to get by from day to swinging day.

 

(Schools)

1. No guns in schools, not armed guards like some have said…..are you completely nuts?

2. Limit the number of entrances and exits to school buildings, and have metal detectors that sound an alarm

3. Crack down HARD on street gangs, and crack down HARDER on dead-beat or absent parents

4. Absolutely no weapons, knives, or any other kind of violent paraphernalia

5. Those caught do not pass go, they go directly to jail…..for an extended stay

 

(General Population)

1. Background checks for all potential gun purchasers

2. List everybody who owns or posses any kind of firearm, this could be included on a censes report

3. Limit the magazine size of a gun to two rounds of ammunition, that’s right 2 rounds of ammo per clip

4. Anybody convicted of any type of gun violence would be imprisoned for not less than 25 years.

5. Set minimum standards that anybody who either owns a gun, posses a gun or what’s to purchase a gun must pass

 

Those people who are convicted of gun related crimes would be put in special prisons where they would work a minimum of 50 hours a week on federal projects, like cleaning out national forest underbrush, or do grunt work at construction sites. But they are kept busy for at least five days a week for operating a firearm in a reckless manner.

 

That would do it…..I think,

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!