The Washington Times

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Government-issued gun language misleads

Associated Press reporter Bob Lewis made the common mistake of using the words Democrats have chosen to define the issue of gun ownership (“Checks of gun show purchasers supported,” Web, Thursday).

There is no “gun show loophole.” The vast majority of sellers at gun shows are dealers. In fact, it is difficult to find any individual selling guns at a show who is not a dealer. The “gun show loophole” is not an unintentional “loophole” in the law, but rather the sale of a firearm from one private individual to another, which has never been regulated.

Mr. Lewis also uses the term “assault weapon” without defining it. An “assault weapon” is selective fire, meaning it is capable of fully automatic fire and is a weapon used in combat. Civilian look-alikes are just that — look-alikes — and are not capable of automatic fire. In today’s combat, you would be crazy to take a firearm that was not capable of automatic fire. Finally, Mr. Lewis uses the phrase “gun control.” However, it’s not guns that need control — it is the people. Guns are inanimate objects, devoid of free will. They do not need to be controlled.

I was, however, happy to see that Mr. Lewis did not use the phrase “gun violence,” since as inanimate objects, guns are not capable of violence. Neither are bath tubs, which are involved in the deaths of dozens of people, including children, every year.

FREDERICK G. SCOTT

Waldorf, Md.

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