Don’t let silly conspiracies stop sensible gun regulations

When I read the letter from Bob Anderson about gun control and climate change being symptoms of an elite global conspiracy, I was reminded of why Bob is my former county councilman. In my opinion, council members need to spend their time fixing roads and planning for growth rather than spinning conspiracy theories.

I have an eclectic (as opposed to “checkered”) background. I am a former infantry officer and a retired Presbyterian minister. I also favor common sense gun control.

As an infantry officer, I got to know weapons. The AR 15 civilian version of the military M 15 is designed to shoot as many bullets as possible in as short a period of time as possible. A modification can turn the AR 15 from semi automatic to automatic. There is no reason for civilians to own assault weapons. There is precedent.

The Thompson submachine gun, i.e. the “Tommy Gun,” the weapon of choice of gangs, was banned. Assault-style weapons, the weapon of choice in today’s mass murderers, need to be banned, too.

But, I can hear Bob saying, “What about protecting ourselves from the tyrannical government?”

Well, Bob, if you want to really protect yourself from the government, you will need to have an M1A1 tank in your garage; a helicopter gun ship in your backyard; and stinger missiles on your roof. I wonder what your HOA and the current county council would say about that?

As a Presbyterian minister, I am concerned that the abundance of guns in our society plays into what Calvin called, “the total depravity of humanity.”

Each of us is capable of doing rotten things. The only good we do is by the grace of God. The easy availability of all kinds of guns, in some instances without background checks (gun shows and online purchases), creates situations where violence escalates to deadly use of force. My daughter was an assistant district attorney who headed a special victims unit. She once shared the sobering fact that in domestic abuse cases, a gun in the home means that the abused person (usually a woman) has a 50 percent greater chance of being killed.

This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 7:50 AM with the headline "Don’t let silly conspiracies stop sensible gun regulations."