This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The NRA may be right when they say that, if we had gun control, only criminals would have guns. But they fail to add that it is not criminals who shoot people indiscriminately. Only zealous half crazy people do that.
Gun control may not deprive criminals from having guns, but they are not mass killers. All they want is money, and they might kill a few people who get in their way. But that is all the killing they do.
Gun control would make it very difficult or impossible for mass killers to obtain automatic weapons. If they cannot obtain the proper weapons, they might not even think of killing. It is the availability of these weapons that give them the idea of shooting up a mass of people.
It is a disgrace for members of Congress to put re-election above stopping mass murders. The NRA is a paper tiger and does not control voters as much as they wish. Congress is held in low esteem as is, but the longer they fail to act responsibly, the more respect they will lose and the greater will be their chance of not being re-elected.
Jean and John B. Henkels
Salt Lake City