cuchulainn
Member
from the Winfield (Kan.) Courier
http://www.winfieldcourier.com/editorial/e031028.html
http://www.winfieldcourier.com/editorial/e031028.html
EDITORIAL - Keep ban on assault weapons
The National Rifle Association and other advocates of gun rights are pressing Congress to lift the ban on assault weapons when it expires next month.
Nothing could be less timely.
The wave of violence in schools, workplaces and public areas has subsided lately, but this is no reason to relax pressure on those who would attack fellow citizens with rapid-fire assault weapons.
As NRA spokespeople so often say, the need is not for changing the law but for more vigorous enforcement of the laws we have. Law-abiding gun dealers deserve to know that those who illegally procure and distribute assault weapons are being prosecuted.
Gun rights advocates have a friend in the White House, but right now President Bush has his hands full. The last thing he needs as he heads into his reelection campaign is a bloody battle over ending the assault weapons ban.
Since 9/11 many Americans have felt deeply insecure. President Bush himself understood this, and he used that understanding to lead his party to victory in the 2002 elections. That understanding also led him to seek a new department of Homeland Security.
It makes no sense for gun rights advocates to press for relaxation of the ban on assault weapons now or in the foreseeable future. Young Americans are dying daily at the hands of terrorists with access to weapons of war in Iraq and elsewhere.
We should not make such weapons legally available in this country. Rep. Todd Tiahrt and other members of the Kansas delegation in Congress should vote to preserve the ban on assault weapons.
© 2003 by the Winfield Publishing Co