Limit the firepower available for guns

Immediately following the nation's latest mass shooting, in Tucson, the media were quick to blame the “inflammatory political rhetoric” that has become commonplace on talk radio and cable news programming. While this rhetoric is disturbing, to blame the Tucson shooting on rhetoric misses the point.

The easy access of semi-automatic handguns equipped with large-capacity ammunition magazines that can be easily concealed means any angry or disturbed person can commit mass murder at will wherever people gather.

In this case, the alleged shooter brought a concealed handgun equipped with a 33-round ammunition magazine to the Safeway store where the Congress on the Corner event was held. Surveillance videos showed the shooter emptied the magazine of its 33 bullets before he was wrestled to the ground by bystanders as he attempted to reload with one of two 15-round magazines he brought.

Such a weapon should not be allowed on the street. (Note: The 1994 federal assault weapons ban, which Congress allowed to expire in 2004, limited the capacity of ammunition magazines to 10 rounds.)

It is nice to think that if we all just toned down the rhetoric, we would all be safe from further gun violence. The reality is that public policies must be based on facts and reasoned analysis, not on what sounds good. It is time for lawmakers to roll back the firepower.

John Johnson

Cedar Rapids