Your Opinion: Gun availability out of control

Dear Editor:

We have gun laws in this country but they are not very strong or meaningful. I own guns myself and they are very easy to purchase. I wonder if this "instant" check system we have works and just how good of a background check it performs.

The individuals at Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, the school in Denver and places where other mass shootings occurred got their guns pretty fast. A lot of people are dead now. Let's not forget Norway - 72 young people etc., dead.

Now in Missouri there is no permit system for handgun purchases any longer thanks to Matt Blunt, I believe.

Someone can purchase a 10-, 15- or more shot capacity, semi-auto pistol very easily now and sell it a day, week or month later to someone else and no background check occurs.

You or the seller wouldn't possibly know anything about this individual or their mental state. Seller beware.

When the Austrian-made Glock semi-auto pistol came to this country, smartly marketed by Glock, it opened the door for many other high capacity semi-auto pistols to go on market.

Kel Tec is making a 300-round, semi-auto pistol now. Purchase 10 extra magazines and you will have the capacity for 300 rounds plus. Anyone could hide under a jacket, etc. The gun nuts believe this is a right. We'll all be safer with high capacity pistols on everyone, right?

Why can't we own grenades or maybe someone would like to own a bazooka or a tank? Crazy, huh. Some would if could.

The Second Amendment which is good is outdated and too vague. When our Constitution was written all people had were muzzle loaders, single-shot weapons. If those guys who wrote our Constitution were alive today I would bet they would have stricter gun laws. We have over 300 million people now, not 13 million or less the original colonies had.

We need to do something about our gun laws and safety and the parts of our Constitution that are outdated arming every person is not the solution. Our laws must reflect the times we live in.

I own guns myself and I believe everyone has a night to defend themselves if need somehow. But the "gun" and its capacity are getting out of control.