Today's MOZEN: END HATE

F LoBuono

This is the Bushmaster AR15 A3 Tactical Carbine. The manufacturer and gun rights advocates often refer to it as an Assault STYLE rifle. The style part is VERY important. They claim it is NOT sold to fire in fully automatic mode. Therefore, it is not accurate to claim that it is an actual assault rifle. But, this is used to simply circumnavigate the law prohibiting the sale of automatic weapons. (note: an after-market adaptation can be easily purchased and installed giving it fully automatic firing capabilities - so, there goes THAT argument).

Really?

Please take a close look at it. What does it look like to you? I can't answer for you but, to me, it sure as hell looks like and Assault rifle. I could post all the statistics as to how powerful it is, what size bullets that it uses and how rapidly it can fire them. But, what's the point? You can easily look that up for yourself. Let it suffice to say that it will live up to the title ASSAULT rifle. It is, simply, a killing machine. They don't call them ASSAULT rifles for NO reason! Their raison d'etre is to kill as many as possible as quickly as possible.

Rational people are left to ask the question, "why, in ANY ONE'S mind, could they see the need for an assault rifle if not to kill as many people as possible"? Gun enthusiasts, led by the NRA, will counter by saying it's a matter of freedom supported by the Second Amendment.

Really?

Of course, my voice joins the litany of others calling for a TOTAL BAN and these type of weapons. Owning one can simply not be rationalized to me.

Still, I fear a ban will only have limited effectiveness. The issue is NOT just the weapon of choice - it's the mindset BEHIND the weapon! Now, let me make this perfectly clear: in NO way is this an endorsement of the lame NRA meme Guns don't kill people. People kill people. There are far too many loopholes in our gun laws that need to be addressed, banning Assault Weapons being one of the most important. But, there is something to what they are saying. There is underlying sickness, a paranoia, a culture of hate, fear and loathing that lies behind the guns. Our non-tolerant, violence obsessed culture is feeding the beast. The weapons are simply the vehicles of hate. They provide the means for those whose hearts are filled with malice.

Until we address the underlying causes of this madness, we are doomed to continue to repeat it! All the gun control in the world will not end the killing until we deal the rhetoric of hate that is preached FAR too often in this Country. We are obsessed with guns. We are obsessed with violence. We are barraged with images that tell our children that most serious issues are solved at the end of a muzzle.

Their are those who wish to Make America Great Again by supporting the policies of Fear and Loathing. Unfortunately, they number in the millions. They are our neighbors and co-workers. They are Americans. This is the reality of our democracy. Therefore, it is up to the rest of us, people of conscience, to stand up and say, NO. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. STOP THE HATING. ALL HATING.