Political cartoon exaggerates the danger of assault-type weapons

I wish to take this time to address an ill-conceived notion about our society which has been kindled and depicted in a political cartoon published Thursday.

Apparently, your cartoonist believes, erroneously, as many others do, that "assault"-type weapons are responsible for crime. Unfortunately, due to political underhandedness and careful misdirection, the recent ban of these weapons has stigmatized them to such a degree that almost anyone will have an opinion about them, though most have little knowledge of them. It is easy to be scared of a rifle of this type after watching Rambo blow thousands of rounds off in seconds and cause mass destruction, with what appears to be little exertion. But this is far from reality.

The reality is assault rifles are relatively heavy, around 9 pounds, respectively; and somewhat difficult to maintain. An assault rifle bought legally could cost an individual anywhere from $600, if they're lucky, to nearly $4,500. The ammunition for these weapons is the most expensive of any, and the size of most prevents them from being of any real use to anyone who isn't trained to properly use them. And if all of this isn't enough, an "assault" rifle is relatively useless unless converted to fire at an automatic rate, a process which isn't as easy as people think. And what about the name, "assault rifle;" that just sounds "scary." What you choose to do with it is your own business, why use adjectives which accuse honest people of things they had no intention of doing? The underlying fact of the whole matter is this: Prior to the ban of semi-automatic rifles, they were found by the FBI to be used in less than 1 percent of all crime committed with firearms. This is a fact you can't argue.The Second Amendment of our "beloved" Constitution provides for citizens to maintain the "right to keep and bear arms." Ask yourself: "What other rights are they going to go back on, next?"

By J. MacEwen
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 5, 1997