Needed: political marksmanship

John W. Schoen, CNBC, wrote in a June 2016 article that “the National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates there are roughly 5 million to 10 million AR-15 rifles [privately] owned in the United States. . . .” The U.S. Government has purchased an estimated eight million of the military version for use by our armed forces and our allies.

The AR-15 rifle uses military ammunition. It has a rapid-fire function, and it accepts large-capacity ammunition magazines. If any one of those three factors were changed, it would be a much less deadly weapon.

Sales of the AR-15 are not driven by usage for hunting wild game or for target shooting sports. The AR-15 rifle is ill suited for most of those sporting activities. But it is too well-suited for killing people who are clustered together and have no way to escape.

Some of us who were in Vietnam when the first military version was in use are not so enthusiastic about the weapon. It was not well designed for that harsh environment. It jammed frequently. Ironically, the sloppy Russian AK-47 rifle is considered to be reliable in harsh field environments.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) was organized in 1871 to teach safety and marksmanship. It evolved into a political lobbying organization around 1975, and it has become influential. The NRA generally opposes legal restrictions for firearms sales.

Florida recently adopted a new law stipulating that a firearms purchaser must be at least 21 years old. The law also allows some school personnel to carry firearms. That doesn’t provide much protection for schools. Guns can be obtained by devious means, and those who use them unlawfully are frequently older than 21. But the Florida legislation alarmed the NRA, and that organization immediately filed a federal lawsuit contending that the Florida law violates the Second Amendment and is unconstitutional. The Second Amendment does not mention age. It reads as follows: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” A “militia” is a military organization that is not part of the regular military forces but is subject to call for service in an emergency. “Well regulated” means disciplined and controlled.

Active duty U.S. military personnel who live on a military base may own personal firearms, but those personal firearms must be kept in a secure government arms storage room.

In 2001 an airline passenger attempted to detonate an explosive in his shoe. It failed to detonate, but since that single event, millions of passengers have been required to remove their shoes and put them through an X-ray machine when boarding a commercial flight. During the past 18 years, there have been 32 mass shootings in the United States. The nine most tragic events averaged 25 people killed per event. What have we done about it?

Controlled access is the means we use for security. We employ controlled access to government buildings or when boarding an airplane or at some sports and entertainment events. If we need to provide better school safety, we will need to fund controlled access to our schools and provide professional police protection. Our children are precious. It would be irresponsible to provide lesser protection.

Jack Stevenson is a retired infantry officer, civil service and private corporation employee who now reads history, follow issues important to Americans and writes commentary from his home in Pensacola, Florida.