I Asked Mike Beachy for permission to post his letter about Assault Weapons. Below is his reply and letter.
Glen:
"It is okay to use this letter. I wrote it in kind of an “emotional” state during one of our family discussions and is somewhat tongue in cheek humor but gets my point across." Mike
What is an assault weapon? A scary looking gun or any instrument a person
could use to commit an act of violence?
Automatic weapons (machine guns) are already illegal in the United States so
to ban those would make them "double illegal". Guns like a Thompson machine
gun, UZI and a Mac-9 are already illegal if fully automatic unless you have
a specialized federal license. The act of assaulting someone in this country
is already illegal so to regulate that or ban that would make assault with a
deadly weapon "double illegal".
Criminals have automatic weapons that they procured through illegal channels
but they are criminals and they do not care about governmental laws. Laws
are created to govern law abiding citizens. Laws do nothing to regulate or
control non-law abiding citizens. Criminals do not care if a law makes their
activities illegal or "double illegal".
For some reason an AK 47 and an AR 15 are assault weapons but a 44 Magnum
hand gun or a Remington 1100 are not but they all fire at the same speed and
can kill someone with the same effectiveness. Maybe an assault weapon is a
gun that has no other purpose but to assault someone. I know of no such
weapon. The SKS is an extremely effective deer riffle and favored by many
Michigan deep woods hunters because it is short and easy to carry in the
heavily undergrowth areas of northern Michigan. It shoots the very same
bullet as the AK 47 and at the same rate of fire. A Ruger Mini 14 is a
favored riffle of western ranchers for killing varmints yet it shoots the
very same bullet as the AR 15 and at the same rate. Both the SKS and the
Mini 14 are not as scary looking as the AK 47 and the AR 15 so I do not
believe they are considered assault weapons.
I think what we need to do is regulate the movie industry's portrayal of
guns in films. If the film industry would just use softer, kinder looking
guns when the bad guys do bad things in the movies then the ignorant public
would not have this phobia about the scary looking guns.
"Assault Weapon" is the most ridiculous phrase I have ever heard. For Obama
to follow through on his campaign promise and instate a ban of assault
weapons it would be futile and accomplish nothing except to appease the
ignorant. That is ignorant (those who know nothing on the subject) not
stupid I am not calling anyone names here. It would also make me in
violation of the ban because I will never give up my guns, kind gentle guns or scary.
I have a license to carry a concealed weapon. I am a law abiding citizen and
have never committed a crime. I have never carried a weapon out in public
but I could. I have no reason to. There are times when I do carry a weapon
like Walleye fishing at night in a bad part of Elkhart. I do not intend to
assault anyone only to protect myself. I have had training in handgun use
from a federal firearms instructor. I hope that it will never become
necessary for me to use a gun in self-defense.
I am not too worried about internal terrorism but I have seen the reports
about militias increasing in numbers. Any SWAT team or our military could
crush these glorified paintball players like an ant under a shoe. Remember
the Branch Davidians in Waco Texas. That was kind of a botch job but you get
the idea. I am not sure what misinformation these low intelligence
individuals have been fed to make them react in such a fashion but if they
are not in violation with any laws then they are free to play soldier. Nut
balls are always going to be around. The Timothy McVeigh, Ted Kaczynski and
Jeffery Dahmer types will never go away even if you pass another law making
their hideous activities "double illegal".
The whole point is that laws and regulations only apply to law abiding
citizens. You cannot pass a law and correct morality. Those operating
outside the laws do not care and will continue to do what they are doing
already. So I say "Get the American Government off my back" and don't pass
regulations on me in an attempt to regulate what cannot be regulated.
Where is my nearest militia?
Mike
