Editor,

Several recent letter writers have complained that Washington law now requires new purchasers of semi-automatic assault rifles to demonstrate that they have completed a firearms safety course in the last five years. Some have complained that its unfair to veterans, who (presumably) already know how to use a gun.

In fact, according to the Washington Attorney General’s office, the safety course to legally purchase an assault rifle must include five areas. These are:

1. Basic firearms safety rules;

2. Firearms and children, including secure gun storage and talking to children about gun safety;

3. Firearms and suicide prevention;

4. Secure gun storage to prevent unauthorized access and use;

5. Safe handling of firearms; and

6. State and federal firearms laws, including prohibited firearms transfers.

Numbers 2, 3, 4 and 6 are not taught in the military, though #3 (firearms and suicide prevention) probably should be, considering the high rate of suicide by gun amongst veterans.

Also complained of is having any hurdle to exercising a constitutional right, with the letter writer comparing gun possession to free speech. This ignores the relative immediate lethality between guns and pens. While there are those exceptional martial artists who can deftly drop a bull elephant with a ball point pen in hand-to-trunk combat, they are few and far between.

But the mass shootings afflicting our society can be performed by just about anyone, no training required. Just buy the gun, point, and pull the trigger. A safety class where someone just might notice that a student is way way out there does not seem like a very big obstruction to exercising your Second Amendment right.

Steve Erickson

Clinton