LETTER: Times HAVE Changed

In response to the writings of Moe Horne, (LETTER: AR-15 should go the way of the ‘Tommy Gun’: Progress, Jun. 15), your knowledge of firearms is on par with many Democrats in Washington D.C., including President Joe Biden.

I don’t consider myself an expert in firearms, but I am very knowledgeable. I have owned an M-16, which is the full-automatic version of the AR-15. The AR-15 is not a military arm just because it LOOKS like a military arm. It is only a semi-auto that can shoot only as fast as your finger can pull the trigger.

The Second Amendment was actually written to guarantee that citizens have military-style arms to defend themselves. By the way, citizens were allowed to have a cannon in 1776, and you are allowed to have a cannon today. My friends and I like to shoot potatoes out of ours, (I hope they don’t outlaw potatoes).

While it is illegal for a gun company or an individual to manufacture automatic weapons for private citizens, it is legal to own one if you pass a background check and pay a fee.

Thompson machine guns are still available through class 3 gun dealers, semi-auto models are available at any gun store. Thompson’s are expensive to manufacture and sell, the .45 ammo is expensive to shoot, this is why you don’t see a lot of them.

If you find yourself in a defensive position where a bad guy is firing at you, and you could stand up and take careful aim without fear of being hit, you would only need one bullet.

Times HAVE changed. You’ve heard the stories where rifles and shotguns were in the back window of trucks in the school parking lot when I was a kid. Availability to guns has not changed. People have changed, availability to legal and illegal drugs, games that teach people to kill, etc.

Larry Skaggs
Overton, NV