Declare war on unjustifiable weapons

Some reflexive patriots, up in arms about blacks protesting experiences they’ve never endured by not observing rote rituals, ironically imagine they need military-grade weapons to protect them from the government the national anthem represents.

The FBI defines a mass shooting as, “Four or more shot and/or killed in a single event at the same general time and location.”

According to Newsweek, the library shooting in Clovis “marked the 244th mass shooting in the U.S. in 2017. To put this into perspective, we are 240 days into the year. The U.S. has had more mass shootings than days in 2017.”

According to gunviolence.org, more than 1,500 mass shootings have happened in the U.S. since 2012’s Sandy Hook massacre killed 26, including 20 first-graders.

CNN estimates 31 percent of mass shootings occur in the U.S., which has 5 percent of the world’s population.

President Trump condemned the Las Vegas shooting as “an act of pure evil” — a useless term — but did not address gun regulations. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “There’s a time and place for a political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country.”

Two days after the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, Yahoo News reported several senators said it was too soon to discuss gun reforms.

The Onion satirical web site wrote, “In the hours following a violent rampage in Las Vegas in which a lone attacker killed (58) individuals and seriously injured (hundreds of) citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly concluded there was no way to prevent the massacre … echoing sentiments expressed by tens of millions of individuals who reside in a nation ... whose citizens are 20 times more likely to die of gun violence than those of other developed nations.”

As I’ve written before, angry white guys are more dangerous to Americans than foreign- or home-bred Muslim terrorists.

Most citizens are not opposed to responsible gun ownership — especially for self-defense. Although I don’t hunt, I wouldn’t deny that “fun” to others.

However, it’s insulting to our societal intelligence to not be sensible about civilian ownership of guns and ammo designed for killing us in mass.

We license drivers and vehicle ownership to save lives, so spare me clichés about guns not killing people. How many fewer would have been killed if the Las Vegas shooter had only pistols or legitimate hunting rifles?

Sure, criminals can obtain military-style firearms, but we can at least make it harder and punishable.

No one is trying to take away self-defense or bona fide hunting weapons from law-abiding citizens, but the National Rifle Association, politicians and gun hysterics are disingenuous when they claim unrestricted gun ownership equals freedom and protection from government tyranny.

Freedom is not being gunned down by a white guy mad because you’re having a better time than him.

With the majority of Americans favoring saner gun regulations (Gallup.com), it’s time to declare war on unjustifiable weapons.

Let’s go ballistic on shooting-the-bull politicians at the ballot box — taking special aim at those more worried about getting re-elected than finding pragmatic solutions for deranged madmen mowing us down.

Contact Wendel Sloan at: [email protected]