[Vision2020] AR-15s, physics and the human body

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today’s (March 2, 2018) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with thanks to Wayne Ruby of Viola.

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Letter: AR-15s, physics and the human body

I read a trauma surgeon's description from Florida of the damage of high velocity bullets that was very telling. Adding a little physics and math is self-explanatory. The kinetic energy of a bullet is one-half mass times velocity squared. A typical hand gun velocity is roughly 1,000 feet per second. An AR-15 is more than 3,000 fps. Do the math.

The second principle is what happens when a bullet strikes our body. Since our tissue is largely water, a shock wave ensues as the kinetic energy of the bullet then spreads out. The trauma surgeon said he has seen damaged tissue in a path 5-7 inches away from the actual projectile path from an AR-15 or similar high velocity rifle. As the surgeon stated, with one shot to the liver from a typical handgun, you still have a chance of survival. Because of the shock wave from an AR-15 bullet in the same location, you would almost certainly die. Exit wounds from an AR-15 can be as large as an orange. One of the Florida students had nine wounds. She did not survive.

We have to have reasonable thought when it comes to high-velocity and high-magazine-capacity weapons, automatic or semiautomatic (such as an AR-15), that have one and only one purpose: to kill people. It is neither a hunting weapon nor one that our Founding Fathers would have condoned, I dare say. We should have careful thought and laws about who has access to any weapon and the mental status of gun owners. It is way past time for action.

Idaho state Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Viola, among others, says that we cannot focus on the tool without infringement of Second Amendment rights. As a physician, I say physics, math and common sense suggest otherwise.

Wayne Ruby
Viola

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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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