Peter Aitken: No public need for these weapons

As predictable as the sunrise, the Orlando massacre prompted some NRA-type to write a letter ( “Weapon wasn’t ‘automatic’,” June 26) pointing out that the murder weapon was not actually automatic (was not a “machine gun”) and was not technically an assault rifle.

Could anything be more irrelevant? Are the families and friends of the 49 dead consoled by the fact that their loved one was killed by only a semi-automatic rifle? The undeniable fact is that, yet again, an unhinged and murderous person was able to easily and legally obtain a weapon capable of killing many people in a short time. This must stop.

Expanded background checks are not the answer; no fly, no buy is not the answer.

The answer is for this kind of weapon to be simply unavailable, not in gun shops, not at gun shows, not anywhere. Such guns for military and police should be tightly controlled and not available to the general population. Possession of such guns should be illegal, with stiff penalties including prison. Current owners would be required to turn in their guns and be compensated.

With all due respect, I suggest that the gun fans actually read the Second Amendment, all of it, including particularly the first 13 words.

This story was originally published July 2, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Peter Aitken: No public need for these weapons."