Mass shootings in San Bernardino, Colorado Springs, Aurora and Sandy Hook all have one thing in common other than being tragedies. 

The weapon of choice by the shooters were assault weapons.

Despite dubiously being called modern hunting rifles by the arms-manufacturing industry, they aren’t designed for hunting. They are designed to kill multiple humans at ranges up to 300 yards. 

What about protection, you say? Yes, you do have the right to protect your home. However, I must ask what is the threat that a pistol or shotgun is so insufficient that one needs the firepower of an assault weapon? 

You say, “Don’t I have the right to take up arms against the U.S. government if I feel they’re threatening my rights?” The answer to that is no. You don’t have that right. Doing so is treason as defined by Section 3 of the constitution: “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.”

In fact, the Second Amendment was added along with the related Militia Acts of 1792 so that a “well-regulated militia” was available to be called up in case of invasion, attacks by Native American tribes, slave revolts or insurrections, such as those imagined by paranoid conspiracy theorists.

On April 28, 1996, in Tasmania, Australia, a gunman with an assault weapon killed 35 people and wounded 22 more. The response, unlike in the U.S. where the NRA’s sock puppets in Congress block any changes in gun laws, was the National Firearms Agreement.

This law includes “a ban on certain semi-automatic and self-loading rifles and shotguns, standard licensing and permit criteria, storage requirements and inspections, and greater restrictions on the sale of firearms and ammunition.”

As a result, while Australia had 13 mass shootings between 1979-1996, since implementing the NFA they have had zero mass shootings, according to the University of Sydney.

We as, a nation, must say enough is enough. We shouldn’t leave the safety of the American people to the NRA. It’s simple. Fewer assault weapons means fewer mass shootings.

James Peca, a Farmville resident, is a retired U.S. government analyst living in Farmville. His email address is jep315@gmail.com.