I am proud of Stoneman Douglas High School students. For the first time since Columbine we see real movement on gun violence.
Of all murders in America 64 percent are with guns, in Canada 30 percent, in Australia 13 percent, and in England 4 percent. Students and adults are tired of boloney solutions. What are boloney fixes? Raising the age to buy a gun to 21 does nothing; outlawing “bump stocks” does not fix the problem; blaming mentally ill people, more boloney. There will always be undiagnosed mentally ill people, and other countries have them too. Arming teachers for more guns in schools, another bullsh*t fix.
There are two fixes, first do what England did — get rid of all guns. Given the Second Amendment, this is not going to happen.
The second choice is to do what Australia did, confiscating privately-owned guns and banning semiautomatic weapons. In addition, they also required a 28-day waiting period for firearm purchases. All gun buyers are required to have a genuine reason to qualify for a license. A national gun registry of guns was created.
In 1996 Australia had a shooting known as the Port Arthur Massacre, in which 35 people were shot dead. Since the new law, no mass shootings have taken place in Australia.
Australians understood that semiautomatic guns, which reload themselves each time fired, increase exponentially the lethality of a firearm. They are obliged to store the rifle in a gun safe. Bullets must be kept in a separate compartment.
Why does anyone need an automatic or semi-automatic gun? I have hunted deer over 50 years with a lever-action 30-30. Each time I shoot I have to eject the shell and that action reloads the next shell. Any true sportsman knows automatics or semiautomatics are not needed for hunting. And how many owners of automatics actually hunt?
A shooting done with a gun that is not an automatic or semiautomatic allows time to get to the shooter. Most shooting happen at six to eight feet away, at that distance allows resistance to get to the shooter between shots.
This problem reminds me of America 50 years ago; the Vietnam War. The war went for over 20 years but by 1968 everyone knew we couldn’t win, yet we were losing 200 soldiers a week. In 1972, President Nixon said he wanted “peace with honor.” Presidential candidate George McGovern said we should just get out. Nixon won the election yet in August of 1973, after how many additional wasted lives, we just got out, there was no “peace with honor.”
Do we claim Second Amendment rights to have any gun and let the killing of innocent students continue? Or do we take effective action? Americans have had enough!
For years Congressman Erik Paulsen and State Rep. Jenifer Loon have been Second Amendment rights lackeys. Both have a 93 percent rating from the NRA and both have an “A” rating from the Minnesota Gun Owners. Paulsen has accepted $31,613 in NRA money. Neither will do anything meaningful to prevent gun violence but talk boloney. They need to be replaced. Protect kids, not guns!
There are 2,800 students in the Eden Prairie High School. Out of that number, isn’t it possible just one of those students is not happy with the school, not happy with their fellow students or not happy with their teachers?
The question is, how would you stop that unhappy student seeking attention with violence? Think about it!
John E. Mallo, Eden Prairie
Eden Prairie News, March 2, 2018