Guns!
Wise
regulation!

December 5, 2022 -- I have blogged previously about the endlessly ghastly problem of gun violence in America. I (and many others) have observed that it is a public health crisis.

In recent years, much of this mayhem is done with assault weapons. Part of the solution is, of course, legislation. My brilliant friend Dr. Jeff Johnson, in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle, proposed a rational way to address this scourge:

Assault rifles are a danger to the public (6/20/2021)

...Assault rifles are NOT good for self defense ("Gun debate propelled by assault rifle's allure", 6/20). The rounds they fire are so high powered that they are a danger to people who are not the target because they usually pass through the intended target and even through walls, or they ricochet off hard surfaces creating showers of high-energy shrapnel.

Laws to restrict assault rifles should be based strictly on:

  • The power of the rounds they fire (proportional to bullet-mass x velocity-squared),
  • How quickly successive rounds can be fired,
  • How many rounds their magazines hold, and
  • How quickly magazines can be swapped.
Above a threshold on each of those measures, assault rifles should be deemed weapons of war and banned for civilian use. Other aspects, such as whether they are styled to look military, how many handles they have, or how they are named are irrelevant and should not be factors in determining their legality.

Go Jeff! Go sensible regulation! Go life-saving public health legislation!

Table of Contents