It was interesting to read an op-ed written by 11th-grader Henry Isenberg who seems to clearly be informed only by his teacher (Herald, Dec. 27).
1) Gun ownership is a right, driving is a privilege: Conflating the two makes an interesting argument, however, if you needed a learner’s permit to own a gun, which is a right, I would suppose that you should also have a learner’s permit for freedom of expression. No, I didn’t think so.
2) Technology: Yes, there weren’t semi-automatic weapons back in the day. But there also wasn’t TV, telephone, radio and the Internet – so by the same logic, freedom of the press should only extend to dead-tree media. No, I didn’t think so.
3) Control reduces homicides: If that were true, Chicago and Washington, D.C., would have the lowest murder totals – but they don’t. Australia confiscated guns from its populace and homicides shot up. It turned out that only the innocent didn’t have guns.
4) The “they were legally purchased” argument: Many of the guns used in mass homicides were legally purchased with the government-mandated background checks. However, background checks are incomplete when it comes to mental health and spousal abuse. And none of the measures suggested would have uncovered these issues.
5) We should limit the size of the magazine: If recovery of the magazine is not required, changing magazines on any semi-automatic can be done in less than a second. Mass shooters carry multiple magazines. Their crimes are not ones of passion, but planning.
There are two consistent themes with mass shootings: the lack of mental-health facilities coupled with the misguided mainstreaming of mental-health sufferers. Also terrorism – such as in San Bernardino. Mass shootings occur in gun-free zones where the shooter is confident that there will be no defense. The guns used have not been military grade – they have been legal semi-automatic weapons, not the automatic weapons used by the military.
Finally, if you don’t like guns, don’t buy one. It’s a right, not a requirement.
David Buslee
Durango
