Dear Editor:
On Dec. 14, Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and fatally shot six adults and 20 first-grade students before shooting himself. Understandably, an outraged public demanded answers why this disturbed individual had access to his mother's Bushmaster XM15-E2S rifle.
Subsequently, defenders of the Second Amendment have introduced into the conversation the inherent dangers associated with automobiles, the ever-popular comparisons to the nation's abortion laws, and the adverse effects of violent video games, rap songs, and television programs. These defenders appear to want to talk about anything except guns.
While these other issues are certainly worthy of debate, let us remind ourselves that the 26 victims of Sandy Hook were not aborted. Nor did they die in a car crash or listening to rap music. They weren't smoking cigarettes or eating Twinkies.
They were slaughtered by a deranged person wielding a weapon exclusively designed to do just that. Slaughter people. We have too many weapons like that. Even one is too many.
It has been posited, "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." This bumper-sticker mentality is essentially accurate. When Bushmasters are outlawed, if you refuse to give up your Bushmaster, you will no longer be a law-abiding, Constitution-loving taxpayer. You will be an outlaw.
Like it or not, change is certainly impending, either in the form of registration, a limit on clip capacity, or, as I hope, a complete ban on the manufacture, sale, and ownership of the type of weapon used at Sandy Hook, even if they have to be pried from "cold, dead hands."
Live with it.