FLORIDA KILLINGS BEG THE QUESTION (AGAIN)

Parkland school shooting victim

On Valentines Day 2018, a young man with mental issues, Nikolas Cruz (19), murdered 17 people at his former high school in Parkland Florida. Apparently Cruz was armed to the teeth with assault weapons. Evil. I grieve today with my American brothers and sisters.

I have an abiding love for America. In fact, the day my own country of Canada legalized medically assisting the suicides of sick and disabled people (at tax payer expense) was the day I starting wanting to move to the U.S.. I love everything about America except its obsession with guns. Does the 2nd Constitutional Amendment mean a right to bear assault weapons designed for one reason: Killing people? Don't get me wrong I believe in civil liberty as much as the guy. But for the life of me, I don't understand why ordinary citizens need AK47s, or other automatic weapons. It's simply beyond me.

I've heard the defence that people need a weapon to defend their property and families. That's what police are for. The response may be that some neighborhoods are so violent that people need to keep a pistol in their night-drawer to ward of intruders until the police arrive. Okay, but a pistol is vastly different than an automatic weapon. 

The Parkland high school slaughter begs the question that needs to

be answered: Should ordinary citizens have assault weapons designed for military applications? Is it reasonable for someone with a history of mental illness to have any gun?  My answer is no. 

But then what do I know, I'm a naive Canadian.  For the longest time I thought the right to bear arms had something to do with short-sleeved shirts.

Mark