Editor,

In response to U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen’s guest column in the Oct. 18 Whidbey News-Times, when sociopaths use a gun to murder people, why do Democrats always call it a gun problem and call for more laws? But, when these same sociopaths use a truck, airplane or bomb to commit violence, those aren’t the problem?

I can agree with Rep. Larsen that bump stocks, approved under the Obama Administration, should be heavily regulated, as are any fully automatic weapons, because it turns a semi-automatic one, essentially into a fully automatic one.

As to a military-style assault weapons ban, the last ban under the Clinton Administration did nothing to curb or prevent crime or violence and very few were ever used to that effect prior or since.

A military assault weapon is usually a short-barreled weapon with selective fire, including fully automatic, extended-capacity magazines and often folding gunstocks for ease of portability and designed for combat.

It has nothing to do with flash hiders, suppressors, bayonet lugs, pistol-grip stocks or any other cosmetic features easily accessible on the open market to dress up a simple semi-automatic .22 rifle, and folding stocks allow the weapon to take up less space in storage.

Adding these features to a .22 rifle does not turn it into an assault weapon and neither does a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition. But those things define what the Democrats call an assault weapon and the .22 rifle would all be included in a ban of their making if allowed.

It is ludicrous to ban magazines holding more than 10 rounds.

Magazines can be changed out in seconds and the fact is that there are probably millions already in the possession of law-abiding citizens that commit absolutely no crimes.

Democrats call for “common-sense” gun laws, but to them it means keeping them under lock and key, registration and severe restrictions on ownership and use.

Finally, Rep. Larsen’s statistic of more than 33,000 Americans dying by guns each year is misleading.

The majority of those deaths are from suicides and gang violence and these are the things he should be addressing.

Ed Hickey

Oak Harbor