<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Courtesy of today’s (March 2, 2018) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with thanks to Wayne Ruby of Viola.<div><br></div><div>——————————————</div><div><br></div><div><div><h1 itemprop="headline" class="headline" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 42px; margin: 0px 100px 0px 0px; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Letter: AR-15s, physics and the human body</span></h1></div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>Wayne Ruby</div><div>Viola</div></div><div><br></div><div>——————————————<br><br><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div></div></div></body></html>