Earlier this year, a gunman killed five people and wounded eight others at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky. Less than a month later, a man killed five of his neighbors and wounded several others after they asked him to stop shooting his gun at 11 at night. Then, later in the same month, eight people were killed and seven others wounded at an outlet shopping mall in Allen, Texas. As has become tragically common, the killer used an AR-15-style rifle. 

These and other military-grade weapons have just one purpose — killing human beings as rapidly and ferociously as possible. Yet they can be purchased with almost no restrictions.

A Kaiser Family Foundation survey showed that one in five adults has a family member who has been killed by a gun. And that over half of adults have been directly affected by an incident involving a gun — such as themselves or family members witnessing a shooting, being threatened with a gun, or being injured or killed by a gun.

Guns have become the leading cause of childhood deaths. More than disease, malnutrition, or accidents. That’s because America is the only country on Earth that has more guns than people.

This insanity is a national disgrace. Please demand that your members of Congress listen to their actual constituents — Americans of all political persuasions who overwhelmingly support regulating military grade weapons — not the gun industry, its shills in the NRA, or the gun-cult fringe, and ban assault weapons.

Steve Gehlert

West Newbury