Defenders of assault weapons should be paying the price

On a recent Monday, the children at the East End Community Grade School in Portland wrote sympathy cards to their two fellow classmates whose father was killed at one of the crime scenes in Lewiston. The father also had two older sons and a spouse. The two older boys witnessed their father’s murder. Fortunately, these four boys still have their mother and she them. The family is part of the small tightly knit community of the hearing impaired in Maine. Three other members of this community were killed at the scene as well.

In a better world, there would be no assault rifles, except on the battlefield or perhaps the rifle range, if the NRA and its supporters would be satisfied with that.

In a better world, the AR manufacturers, their shareholders and dealers, instead of the demoralized ER staff and surgeons, would be required to deliver the bad news to the families of the innocent victims in the ER waiting room.

In a better world, AR manufacturers, their shareholders and dealers would have to deposit a portion of their profit into a fund to compensate the victims of gun violence or their families.

If the NRA, its members and other Second Amendment absolutists believe their right to possess and use an AR is sacrosanct, surely they would be willing to pay the cost of that in money and apology.

Brian Browne
Portland

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