RE: Mr. Stagg's letter and guns

Mr. Stagg is correct in quoting Thomas Jefferson as saying: “No free man shall ever be disbarred from the use of arms.” But remember, Jefferson was speaking in the context of a group force, that is, a militia, as clearly stated in the Second Amendment. Mr. Stagg also states that the people need guns to protect themselves from tyranny in Government. Note that he refers to people, not person, indicating it is a group effort, again, a militia. Otherwise, try to envision one man with a gun bringing down a tyrannical government.

Mr. Stagg was incorrect in saying that I said the AR-15 could pierce any known body armor: I said that in reference to the AR-15’s successor.

Technically, the AR-15 is not an assault weapon, although it was originally designed to be one. But none of the modifications to it affect its innate capability as a flesh rending anti-personnel assault weapon. Its modular design allowed it to be modified sufficiently to conform to the norms for a regular rifle, particularly removing the rapid fire and burst options. By the same token, it’s just as easy to restore the rapid fire capability. And that’s the problem.

The bump stock is one of the ways to get rapid fire from an AR-15. This was demonstrated graphically and gruesomely on October 1, 2017 at the Route 91 Music Festival in Las Vegas. One man, with multiple bump stock modified AR-15s, murdered 60 people and wounded 413! Also, consider that: “As of September 30, 575 people have been killed and 1,945 people wounded in 482 shootings” (Wikipedia). Not all of these involved AR-15s, but it is the weapon of choice.

Mr. Stagg said it’s a lie that the Republicans are using scare tactics to claim Democrats want to take our guns away. But here’s what I heard: At a campaign rally in Atlanta on August 3, 2024, former President Donald Trump said Vice President Kamala Harris “supports mandatory gun confiscation.” He asked the crowd, “Would anybody mind if they came into your house and took away your gun? … She’s for taking away all of your guns.” Source: Cap Action 20 (9/05/24). At the Presidential debate, Donald Trump said “”.. Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democrats will take people's guns away…” Source: ABC News (9/10/24).

John H. Terrell

Fallbrook