To the Editor:

I see there is now a poll on whether or not to ban assault weapons.

The phrase “assault weapon” is a term made up to make people fearful of guns, used first in the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban. The gun used in the most recent tragic school shooting in Connecticut was a legal gun under the current Assault Weapons Ban that is in Connecticut.

A ban on assault weapons would have made no difference in this case.

You can ban all the guns you want, but it will not stop tragedies like this from happening. The shooter in this case stole these guns from his mother who he then murdered.

The worst tragedy in U.S. school history was accomplished with not guns, but dynamite. The two most tragic events in U.S. history (the Oklahoma City bombing and 911) happened with diesel fuel, fertilizer and box cutters. So we should ban diesel fuel, fertilizer and box cutters.

People kill people. Guns are not the cause nor reason for this tragedy.

The same day in China, 22 children were stabbed and slashed by a man wielding a knife. I know they were not killed but on Aug. 2 in China, a man killed eight people with a knife.

So are they going to ban knives in China now?

We must be vigilante in protecting our children by any means, but banning weapons of any kind will not accomplish this. I have two young children and one more on the way; this tragedy only strengthened my resolve and renewed my faith in the right to protect my family.

When a nation is stripped of the right to bear arms, other rights follow.

The constitutions of most of our states assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.” —Thomas Jefferson

William Bunn II
Franklin