Editor,
Recently elected state Sen. Ron Muzzall is a fine gentleman in many ways.
He is rooted firmly in the immediate area, has worked hard to maintain his farming and has demonstrated moral character.
He also has a fine family.
There is one area we disagree on, however. That being the availability to civilians of high-capacity magazines and assault weapons.
Most conservatives, strangely enough, seem to fall into this line of thinking, and the National Rifle Association has been a large influence in promoting this thinking.
These items are not needed in our country, unless an enemy were to invade our land.
I believe the military armories would be handing out such weapons to every able-bodied person if this threat were to come about.
Even our police force should not be equipped with military assault weapons and other military equipment.
SWAT teams should be a function of a specialized National Guard, to be called only if a known criminal threat exists with such weapons.
I queried Sen. Muzzall on this subject. First, he considers it a “mental issue” on domestic terrorist situations.
I agree. Obviously, one must be socially maladjusted and psychologically sick to arbitrarily inflict serious injury or death.
But, Muzzall also said he believes it would be “too hard to regulate.”
That neighboring states may not have similar laws in place, and this would allow an incursion of these weapons.
I disagree. this is what federal and state laws are about. They restrict the transport of illegal items across state lines.
Also, making sure these weapons are not readily available in gun shops and trade shows are deterrents.
No system or set of laws is perfect, but we should at least be heading in the right direction.
Being in a church, shopping center, grocery store or movie theater makes one vulnerable to a shooting.
Let us minimize the effect by not making the tragedy much larger in numbers.
Tom Carey
Freeland