A letter to the Daily Disappointment

As I read your opinion piece about the assault weapons ban sun setting, I was struck by the rather one sided information sited in your article.

By the way, if you are going to Plagiarize, at least list the source that wrote half your story, and the headline.

"Tell that to the families and friends of the 12 students and teacher killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. One of the weapons used by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold was a variant of the banned TEC-DC9 semiautomatic pistol. Last year, a banned AK-47 rifle was used in the killing of a 15-year-old boy and wounding of three teenage girls in a packed New Orleans school gym"
What about the three other guns that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold used? Are the deaths of the children killed with those guns any less tragic? I hope you do not believe they are. Many of the children were brutally killed using a pump action shotgun, the same type of shotgun that I use to hunt pheasants and ducks. The same type used by thousands of your readers and dozens of your advertisers. Does this mean that you want these guns banned as well?

The assault weapons ban did not reduce murder in California, the State that banned assault weapons in 1998. The first 5 years of the ban, murders increased in California by 26%. The fact is knives, clubs and bare hands are used in more than 20 times more murders. (FBI, Crime in the United States 2002)

Another quote "Police universally agree that assault weapons are not used for sport or by people wanting to protect themselves."
Really, please drive out to Davis, to Yolo Sportsman's Club for a high-power rifle match. You will find, much to your astonishment, law abiding citizens shooting AR-15s and other assault weapons at matches. Maybe the police you site don't go to Camp Perry Ohio for the Department of Civilian Marksmanship National Match. There are many police departments represented at the National Match, competing with "Assault Weapons" for sport.

I could counter your article point by point, although I don't think you would get past the first few lines. I believe that your mind is made up. "Assault Weapons" are bad, people should not have them. When do I get to write my column?