Michael Schoenfeld reveals himself to be the very thing he accuses those who support banning AR-15s of being in his March 11 commentary (“An AR-15 is not an ‘assault rifle’”). Being an ex-Marine does not qualify one as a firearms or mass murder expert, and his opinions and ramblings about military service are devoid of useful facts.
The AR-15 is a civilian version of the U.S. military’s M16 assault rifle, with the same look and feel, both being magazine-fed, fully automatic and firing the same caliber of high velocity ammunition, much higher velocity (and deadlier) than handgun ammunition.
Comparing traffic fatalities to mass shootings with a weapon designed specifically to kill is just nonsensical. And comparing the recent mass murders with AR-15s, carried out in mere minutes, with notorious mass murderers of the past is foolishness. Timothy McVeigh killed 168 with a truck bomb (using thousands of pounds of ammonium nitrate, which is now tightly regulated).
Schoenfeld refuses to accept the fact that the “right to bear arms” is not limitless, despite numerous Supreme Court decisions to the contrary. Reasonable people accept civilian limits on weaponry in favor of the right to life, which the AR-15 has and will continue to deny to hundreds of Americans.
Robert W. Vayo, East Millcreek
