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The "Connecticut Effect"

Speaking before the Wisconsin State Convention of the NRA, lobbyist Bob Welch said that the organization would have to wait until the "Connecticut Effect" had dissipated before it could push through its agenda of loosening gun laws even further. The "Connecticut Effect" of which he speaks is, of course, the murder in Sandy Hookof 20 six and seven year old children and 6 adults who were trying to protect them.
The killer used a Bushmaster assault rifle which he had taken from his mother prior to killing her. The "Connecticut Effect" is the feeling of repulsion that most normal human beings feel when reading or hearing about this. The "Connecticut Effect" is the belief that this sort of nonsense has gone on long enough. Nobody who isn't on a battlefield trying to kill other soldiers has the need for such weapons, or should have the right to carry one. Yes, I said right. Just as freedom of speech stops short of the right to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater, the right to bear arms should be --- must be --- abridged to prevent an insane man, or a man with a grudge, from carrying enough firepower to wipe out a small town.

Personally I have a mild love affair with guns. I grew up with them; my father was a hunter and gun collector -- and lifelong member of the NRA. I learned to shoot when I was twelve. When I was in the Army I was issued a sidearm - an Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45 Model 1911A1 - that had been made during WWII by, believe it to not, the International Business Machine Corp. IBM. I wanted that pistol. But not quite enough to, er, requisition it. But even the Army didn't think I needed a 30-round magazine. Seven bullets in the clip were quite enough, thank you.

"The Connecticut Effect." Twenty dead children. Bah!
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