The Editor,
Yet again we are served up the utterly ridiculous spectacle of American gun control debate.
Ridiculous in the sense of tragicomic: Here we have an American population whose house is on fire and all they can manage is to sit around yelping and carping at each other. Not a one will even pick up a glass of water to quell the flames.
More to the point, assault rifles are sharply in focus. The National Rifle Association in the U.S. would have that country’s citizens believe it’s in the public interest to have assault weapons on the streets of American cities in profusion so as not to compromise by a whisper the alleged universal right to bear arms.
Has any commentator asked what the word “assault” means? It refers to the fact that the AR-15 and Sig Sauer MCX, etc. are designed not to kill deer and bears, but to kill as many human beings in the shortest time frame possible.
Now, in Canada, we have a low comedian from Newfoundland, along with a Conservative MP Bob Zimmer collecting petitions urging that Canadians have easy access to assault rifles. They seem to be claiming that assault rifles are an essential hunting tool. Has Bambi suddenly grown fangs? Is she now hunting in packs in the manner of Jurassic raptors?
If we let military weapons proliferate on North American streets, there will hell to pay. They can be stopped if the political will is found.
Doug Rolling, Port Coquitlam
