NRA stance on gun control is extremist
In response to the letter to the editor by Buddy Newman, “NRA not to blame,” on Oct. 5 where he equated the carnage in Las Vegas to abortions — I think the NRA should be held responsible, if not liable, for these mass killings, whenever they happen.
Founded in 1871 by two union soldiers, their original stance was against people walking around with guns, and it stayed that way until 1977. That was the year the NRA was hijacked by extremists who wanted no rules for owning guns. Period.
First of all, this is not the Wild West, so concealed carry permits, for the most part, should not be issued, unless you can prove a real, actual need, such as carrying a lot of money or other valuables. In 2016, in U.S. Senate races, the NRA donated $34 million, with the strings — that the recipient had to vote no on any new gun legislation.
Even NRA members don’t agree with that absolute stand. But those in charge, like Wayne LaPierre, the CEO of the NRA, are extremists, and will fight any and all attempts to change or modify any law that restricts anyone from getting their hands on any weapon that they desire.
There is zero reason for any civilian to own either a semi-automatic or fully automatic rifle, especially in the higher calibers. The sole purpose of those weapons is to kill people. When private civilians are allowed to possess those kinds of weapons, shootings like Vegas, Orlando, Aurora, Sandy Hook, Columbine will happen — especially when they have applied those $50 kits to convert semi-automatic to fully automatic.
Only the police and the military should have possession of these types of weapons, including any currently in “collectors” hands.
As to Mr. Newman’s opinion that abortion is murder, that might be your opinion, but the law says that up until the fetus has developed past so many weeks, it is not yet a human being, and therefore aborting it is not murder.
Neil Marcus,
Miami
This story was originally published October 6, 2017 at 1:41 AM with the headline "NRA stance on gun control is extremist."