You haven’t moved on from the slaughter of children and teachers at Robb Elementary School have you? I haven’t either. I am stricken with grief. I am furious. I am committed to working for the total, irrevocable ban of assault weapon sales to non-military citizens of The United States of America.
Don’t give me that crap about hunting wildlife with one. That argument is analogous to fishing with a bomb. An assault weapon’s only purpose is to kill human beings. Horrifically, it’s extremely effective.
I watched a bite-size portion of the House of Representatives “debating” possible gun regulations, including a ban of, or at least an increase in the age of eligibility to buy killing machines. I hit the off button when I heard a Republican representative defend owning an AR-15 to “kill the raccoons before they get to our chickens.”
At least that buffoon listed only one idiotic excuse for parking an AR-15 by the back door.
Evan F. Nappen, Attorney at Law in New Jersey, wrote “101 Reasons Why You NEED (his caps) an Assault Weapon” in 1991, and updated it in 2022 because, Mr. Nappen says, “the issue is being pushed again by the blood-dancing anti-gunners.”
Writes Nappen, “A question we are all tired of hearing in the so-called "debate" over so-called "assault weapons" is: "Why does anybody need one?" Here is the answer.”
You may decide to waste time and risk your blood pressure by reading this screwball’s entire list, but I don’t recommend it on either count. Read the excerpts below and you will get the picture.
“You need an assault weapon –
1. to help continue the American tradition of citizen/soldier.
2. for recreation.
6. for more fun plinking. (Plinking? With an assault weapon?)
15. to help the firearms industry remain economically strong.
49. to protect yourself against a pack of feral dogs.
57. because they are interesting.
75. to own a firearm designed to wound rather than kill (according to the Director of the Wound Ballistics Laboratory).
77. to own a firearm with that "shoulder thingy that goes up."
101.because YOU say you need one.
Says Knappen, “In America, an individual's need should not be determined by the State.”
I have (as of this date) 222 reasons why nobody other than members of some branches of the U.S. Military require an assault weapon. There may be more than 222 reasons by the time you read this.
The 19 children and 2 teachers killed by assault weapon, May 24, 2022
Makenna Lee Elrod, 10 Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10
Layla Salazar, 11 Eliahna A. Torres, 10
Maranda Mathis, 11 Jackie Cazares, 9
Nevaeh Bravo, 10 Uziyah Garcia
Jose Manuel Flores Jr., 10 Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10
Xavier Lopez, 10 Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, 10
Tess Marie Mata, 10 Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10
Rojelio Torres, 10 Irma Garcia, 48
Eliahna “Ellie” Amyah Garcia, 9 Eva Mireles, 44
Amerie Jo Garza, 10 Alexandria “Lexi” Aniyah Rubio, 10
Alithia Ramirez, 10
the 10 people who were killed in the Tops Market, Buffalo, May 17, 2022
Roberta A. Drury of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 32 Margus D. Morrison of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 52
Andre Mackneil of Auburn, N.Y. – age 53 Aaron Salter of Lockport, N.Y. – age 55
Geraldine Talley of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 62 Celestine Chaney of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 65
Heyward Patterson of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 67 Katherine Massey of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 72
Pearl Young of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 77 Ruth Whitfield of Buffalo, N.Y. – age 86
Feb. 14, 2018: 17 people dead,. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida,
Alyssa Alhadeff, 14 Scott Beigel, 35 Nicholas Dworet,17
Martin Duque Anguiano, 14 Chris Hixon,49 Jamie Guttenberg, 14
Aaron Feis, 37 Cara Loughran, 14 Luke Hoyer,15
Gina Montalto, 14 Joaquin Oliver, 17 Alaina Petty, 14
Meadow Pollack, 18 Helena Ramsay, 17 Alex Schachter, 14
Carmen Schentrup, 16
Peter Wang, 15
Oct. 1, 2017: The Las Vegas slaughter of 58 people.
Nov. 5, 2017: The Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting that claimed 26 lives.
June 12, 2016: The Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., that left 49 dead.
Dec. 2, 2015: The San Bernardino, Calif., shooting that killed 14 people.
Dec. 14, 2012: The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that took 27 lives.
Charlotte Helen Bacon, age six Jack Pinto, age six
Daniel Barden, age seven Noah Pozner, age six
Olivia Rose Engel, age six Caroline Previdi, age six
Josephine Gay, age seven Jessica Rekos, age six
Ana Grace Marquez-Greene, age six Avielle Richman, age six
Dylan Hockley, age six Benjamin Wheeler, age six
Madeleine F Hsu, age six Allison N Wyatt, age six
Catherine Violet Hubbard, age six Rachel Davino, age 29
Chase Kowalski, age seven Dawn Hochsprung, age 47
Jesse Lewis, age six Anne Marie Murphy, age 52
James Radley Mattioli, age six Lauren Rousseau, age 30
Grace McDonnell, age seven Mary Sherlach, age 56
Emilie Parker, age six Victoria Soto, age 27
Two hundred twenty-two beautiful little boys and girls, blossoming young men and women, teachers, coaches, psychologists, middle age and elderly shoppers in a supermarket, worshipers in a church, concert-goers, night-clubbers, training session attendees, and celebrators at a Christimas party were slaughtered by AR-15s wielded by men, and in one case a woman. Two hundred twenty-two innocent human beings dead because their killers were able under current gun laws in the US to purchase a weapon designed with a single purpose: to kill.
Reading these lists of names is not enough. Go online and see their pictures. Read about them and their families.
Two hundred twenty-two human beings mowed down like wheat before a reaper. Leaving hundreds more devastated human beings who will never be whole for the rest of their lives.
To all who refuse to support a permanent ban of assault weapons in this nation, to all who own these killing machines, to those who manufacture them, the blood of these 222 innocents is on your hands, and you can never wash it off.
To the politicians, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, whose lust for the power of elected office is generously financed with contributions from gun lobbies, and therefore the blood of 222 innocent human beings, I will do all in my power to see that you never hold public office again. I ask all of you to make similar commitments.
To all who believe there is nothing we can do about the slaughter by AR-15s and the like, your statement is true for as long as you don’t call your elected officials to register your opposition to assault rifles, until you work with others to speak truth to power, as long as you don’t vote out the greedy, immoral officials who don’t give a damn about anything or anybody except those who keep them in office with blood money.
To all who think it can’t happen to me, or my wife, my husband, parents, my siblings, my children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, colleagues, friends, you are playing Russian roulette with life as we experience it in this murderous, insane country.
God help us.