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Want to shoot an assault weapon? Join the Guard

Decades ago I had a .22-caliber rifle and membership in a gun club called the National Rifle Association. I learned safe gun practices and earned a Boy Scout merit badge. Today, I own a handgun.

When it was written over 200 years ago, the Second Amendment stipulated a “well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State.” That militia was composed of citizens shooting single-shot muskets that also put food on the table. They defeated a colonial power using inferior weapons and superior tactics. I can understand why the founders wrote “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

In 2018, we have a citizen militia called the National Guard. Want to shoot assault weapons? Join the well-regulated and appropriately equipped weekend warriors.

Now, the NRA is a grotesque industry lobby for weapons manufacturers, stuffing gobs of money into politicians’ pockets, and spewing hateful fearmongering to misguided groupies. Many citizens want Congress and local governments to pass legislation for universal background checks and assault weapon limits. The rest of the world is disgusted by the behavior of our hypocritical government under the iron fist of greedy guns and bullets sellers.

If the NRA wants to pollute our society with more guns in the name of school security, let them use their profits to pay for security guards at each and every school across the United States. How far do you think the $33 million that they showered on Trump’s campaign would go toward that kind of effort?

Tim Wolfe

Haiku

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