Studies show knives kill more people than rifles

To The Eagle:

I am sure Mr Skemp believes what he says is true, and has the best intentions, but awareness of facts and knowledge of weapons soon show these things to be totally untrue.

His statement “These semi-automatic weapons are not used for hunting, they are not appropriate for target shooting, they are designed to kill and maim humans. These guns are weapons of war, not sport.”

Each part of this statement is vastly untrue. Semi-automatic rifles have been around since the early 1900s. Most were designed for hunting and or sport.

The following are all semi-automatic rifles, designed and built for hunting and or target shooting:

Savage A22 300 A17, Remington 700 and 597, Ruger Ranch rifle, Ruger 10 22 (the most popular 22 rifle in the USA), various models by Henry, Marlin, Smith and Wesson, Sig Sauer, Browning, I could go on and on.

Many shotguns are semi-automatic.

None of these rifles are fit for a modern combat situation. I served four years in the US Marines so I say this from experience not hearsay.

Modern rifles have evolved to make them more ergonomic. Adjustable stocks, pistol grip, forward grip, only make the rifle more comfortable to shoot; they don’t make them more deadly. Military weapons switch between semi-automatic and fully automatic. Such weapons have been illegal (a felony) for civilians to own since 1934. Some civilian rifles may look like military rifles, but it is not the “look” of a rifle that makes it fit for combat.

Initiative 1639 labels all semi-automatic rifles as “assault rifles,” I believe the intent of writing that phrase into the law is to cause citizens who know nothing about guns to react as Mr Skemp has here.

According to the FBI’s latest year’s data (UCR/FBI.GOV) rifles were used in 374 homicides. Knives were used in 1,604 homicides. Knives were used to kill people over four times the amount rifles were used. Given the attack last week in California where a man stabbed and killed four people and injured several more with a knife, using Mr. Skemp’s logic he would save far more lives by calling for a ban on kitchen knives.

Knowledge is the key, not media hype. I know nothing about gardening, but if I were to constantly hear planting green beans kills dogs, I might be writing this paper urging a ban on planting green beans.

Michael Moneyhan

Puget Island