Letter - It is hard to fight ignorance

To the editor:

It is hard to fight ignorance. I know that is a harsh word, but that is what this gun ban stuff seems to be.

First, what is an assault rifle? The word comes from WWII when the first of the smaller automatic rifles came into being and were dubbed “assault rifles” to differentiate them from the standard military rifles and machine guns.

It seems the media loved the terrible connotation, so in their chance to stir up their anti-gun hysteria, what could be better? What the media now calls the assault rifle, is merely a semi-automatic rifle that looks like a military gun.

Semi-automatic guns have been made in this country since about 1907. Yes, they had extended magazines then, too. The difference being that they have wood stocks, so they look like regular rifles. What the media jumped on was the new rifles have military style stocks. That’s the difference.

While I’m at it … The 9/11 disaster was made possible by a group of people that stopped pilots from carrying guns. Box cutters would not work against guns. Now those same people are saying we should ban some guns because they are military style. Maybe we should ban Jeeps because they look like military vehicles.

Jerry Jensen, a proud NRA member for more than 60 years

Alexandria, MN

Tags: opinion, letters