Curb ownership of weapons like AR-15

With what we can only describe as the utmost dismay at the callousness of Sen. Jason Schultz and Sen. Brad Zaun, we read in the Feb. 16 article 'Iowa feels waves from Florida shooting” Sen. Schultz's comment that the mass shooting in Florida had 'apparently changed the optics enough that the team together (i.e., you Republicans) decided it would be best that we (again, you Republicans) didn't (bring the file to the Senate floor for a vote you Republicans believed you would win).

Where are your hearts? Where is your compassion? In the back pocket of the National Rifle Association? Iowa is one of the gun-friendliest states in the union and you want to make it friendlier?

We hope that the voters of your districts will vote both of you out of office and replace you with Iowans who understand that now is the time to do something to curb the ownership of weapons like the AR-15. No civilian needs nor should be permitted to own a military-grade weapon like that - no one. This is far more than a gun control issue or a mental health issue; it is a basic human rights issue - the right to life. We don't want to take away a hunter's deer rifle or shotgun, just the ownership of weapons like the AR-15. And while you're at it, think about handguns. Their only purpose, like that of an AR-15, is to kill people. Nobody hunts deer with a 9 mm Glock or a Colt 45.

Lance and Maureen Mack

Cedar Rapids