Aurora, Colorado Rep. Ed Perlmutte has called on US Congress to reinstate the assault weapons ban.
Rep. Perlmutte represents the district where a recent movie theater shooting left 12 dead and 58 wounded. He points to the fact that the shooter, James Holmes, was able to gather a colossal amount of lethal weaponry in a short amount of time: "enough ammunition for a small army".
Incidents of mass shootings have increased drastically since the 1970s. The carnage is much greater when assault weapons are involved. In Aurora, James Holmes was able to use his own assault weapon to shoot dozens of people in the 90 seconds it took for police to arrive.
Banning assault rifles would, at the very least, decrease the number of individuals killed or injured in these situations, saving lives.
These weapons, some of which can fire 50 to 60 bullets per minute, belong in highly capable and trained hands only. Please tell President Obama and Congress to reinstate the assault rifle ban immediately!
I am writing to you today concerning assault weapons.
Recently, a shooter named James Holmes came into an Aurora movie theater during a showing of Bat Man and killed 12 people while injuring 58 others.
These kinds of shootings have really grown since the 1970s, with more than 20 happening every year in the United States on average. When assault weapons are involved, the carnage is much greater. Banning assault weapons would help to at least combat this problem, and would save lives.
Assault weapons should only be in the hands of individuals that are highly trained and capable of handling these extremely powerful, lethal weapons (some of which can shoot 50 to 60 bullets per minute).
Please reinstate the assault weapons ban.
Thank you for your time.
