To the Editor:

Stop the Slaughter: Ban Assault Weapons. Assault weapons are designed to do one thing – Kill People! I served in the Army for 33 years. I have seen what damage an assault weapon can do and now so have you on the news nearly every day.

The writers of the Constitution did not guarantee every American could own a weapon that could kill dozens of people in minutes. There is no legitimate need for an assault weapon unless you are going to volunteer to fight Russians in Ukraine. Assault weapons are not designed for hunting. If you need an assault rifle to hunt, I suspect you are not much of a hunter. I have no objection to hunting with a hunting rifle. Maybe assault weapon owners are preparing for Zombies! Well they are wasting their time and money; there are no zombies.

Representative Stefanik recently voted against the Extreme Risk Protection Act which included support of local/state “red flag laws”. These laws provide a means to remove access to firearms from those considered a danger to themselves or others. Why would she and most of the Republicans in the House vote against this very important first step to making Americans safer from gun violence? Because they don’t have the guts to stand up to the gun lobby and extreme right. In his recent book, Gunfight, a former gun industry executive explains how the NRA and gun industry changed gun culture. They fostered extremism and racism to radicalize the nation just for huge profits.

You can not “harden” all potential targets. These radicalized extremists will scout to find the weak target just as the Buffalo shooter did. The right and gun lobby say the problem is mental health; not the proliferation of guns. If they truly believe that then let them put forward a bill that requires all current owners and potential owners to receive mental health certification in order to own a gun of any kind.

David Bolesh
Lisbon