[Vision2020] A Weapon for an Ego

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (January 25, 2013) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with thanks to D'Wayne Hodgin.

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A weapon for an ego
In late 1967, I possessed an AK-47 for about six weeks. The Russian assault rifle that literally changed infantry combat in the 1950s and '60s, it was iconic, reliable and cool. For a few years after I returned to the world, the picture of me standing next to a rubber tree holding the Kalashnikov and its banana clip across my chest was my favorite Vietnam photo.
Maybe it's just me, but I see no practical purpose for owning assault weapons. Though the company that makes the Bushmaster .223 (like the one used in Newtown) reports that it is an excellent hunting rifle. Any true rifleman will tell you that assault rifles are worthless when compared to true bolt-action hunting rifles. No deer hunter worthy of that title would consider using a Bushmaster for hunting anything other than humans. I mean, it's an assault rifle, used for assaults. You don't assault deer.
To defend yourself against a lone intruder into your house (or even two or three if you know what you're doing), a handgun or shotgun works nicely. And if a "tyrannical government" wants to get you, no hand-held weapon (nor probably any other) is going to prevent that from happening. Thus, the argument about "protecting yourself" is specious at best.
And I can hold onto my Second Amendment right by owning a useful handgun, shotgun or real hunting rifle.
It's entirely possible that most legal owners of assault rifles own them because of ego, certainly not for practicality. It's cool to own an AK-47. At least, it was for me. However, I eventually learned I didn't need an assault rifle to be a responsible Christian male to and in my family. Neither does any other responsible gun owner. It's time to sacrifice ego for the sake of saving innocent lives.
D'Wayne Hodgin, Moscow
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Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares"
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still 
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill 
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon
 
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