At last! A veteran of the U.S. military has spoken out! (Maybe others have done so and I missed it.) In a recent letter to The Salt Lake Tribune, Lynn S. Higgins, a veteran of Vietnam and Iraq, explained how the military restricts and controls the use of assault rifles even among the soldiers trained to use them. Then he questions why the civilian world can’t see the problem with allowing their access to untrained and undisciplined civilians.
I have wondered why veterans, especially those who have served in battle and know from intimate experience the horror of what automatic weapons do, have not supported the ban of such weapons in civilian hands. I wonder if they experience déjà vu when innocent American lives are taken in these mass killing tragedies. I wonder if they are concerned that they might be considered as not loyal Americans if they speak against civilian ownership of such weapons (Second Amendment, etc.). They should not be concerned about that. Supporting the ban on civilian ownership of such weapons is one more way they can serve our country.
And then I wonder how fast the ban on civilian ownership and use of all types of automatic weapons could happen if thousands of veterans would organize to do it!
Maxine R. Haggerty, Holladay