Banning AR-15 won’t protect children, but this will

An AR-15 shoots very small bullets, actually not big enough to hunt deer. It is a very popular sport rifle for target and varmint shooting. It is not an automatic machine gun, which is illegal, but is a semi-automatic meaning it shoots one bullet with one trigger pull.

There are many bigger, more powerful guns than an AR-15. Its cosmetic features make it look scary and military to some, and people who don’t know guns listen to and believe the rhetoric and think it is a weapon of war. The military shoots big bullets, not these little ones.

The next school shooter already has his gun, so banning guns is not the answer.

The only answer is to secure the schools like other government buildings. The shooters know schools are largely gun-free zones that have no immediate defense. We should at least protect our children as we do our government employees.

The State publishes a cross section of the letters we receive from South Carolinians in order to provide a forum for our community and also to allow our community to get a good look at itself, for good or bad. The letters represent the views of the letter writers, not necessarily of The State.

This story was originally published February 24, 2018 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Banning AR-15 won’t protect children, but this will."