LETTER: How do you stop shootings without ban?

I carried an M-16 for a year in Vietnam, and upon returning home a high school friend wanted to know if I had smuggled home a selector switch, which apparently can be installed in an AR-15 for full automatic capability. If this is true, do you suppose there is a black market for this device and are there such weapons available? Machine guns are still illegal, aren’t they?

This is a serious question. Can any gun owner explain why they feel the need to own an assault weapon? Is it just because you can? Is it a slightly wicked thrill to have one, or do you really see yourself in close combat against whomever it is you fear? Is it just to assert your right to own whatever weapon you desire? An AR-15 shoots a high-velocity round that will destroy flesh and bone and is not that good at long range so not ideal for hunting, so what do you do with such a weapon?

Just for the record, I own long guns and pistols, and once had a concealed weapon permit, although after Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq I have become somewhat of a peacenik, thinking those wars pretty much only benefited arms manufacturers at a huge cost to American citizens.

Maybe you think an assault weapon ban will lead to losing the Second Amendment entirely (fat chance), and of course there are a bajillion assault weapons already out there, just waiting for the next drunk, stoned or mentally unstable person to pick one up. And I also realize our current political status has us so polarized that any compromise will be unlikely.

But if you support the sales of assault weapons, explain to the public how you would prevent mass killings. I know, if there aren’t guns, people will use knives and clubs, but if those are so dangerous and effective, why don’t you just arm yourself with those?

I really want answers to these questions. Anybody willing to write a reply? —Steve Wheat, Polson