When is the name National Rifle Association going to be recognized for what it is — a gross misnomer? The name evokes a pleasant group of clean-cut sportsmen who hunt during the proper season for meat to take home to their families, and to keep a rifle handy in case an intruder tries to enter their home, in accordance with the Second Amendment to the Constitution. In reality, however, the NRA has become a powerful and wealthy organization committed to protecting the right of citizens to buy and bear not just rifles but many other kinds of assault weapons and ammunition.
I wonder how many of our fellow citizens find it necessary each year to shoot and kill an intruder, as they are entitled to do? And how does that number compare with the thousands of innocent citizens who are killed in drive-by shootings, robberies, domestic quarrels, etc.?
In light of this latest tragedy, it is time for the NRA to re-examine its strong advocacy of gun ownership and its stranglehold on regulations. Also, it is time for our government to find ways of protecting its unarmed citizens at home, on the street and in other public places by closer scrutiny and tighter regulation of the sale of arms and ammunition. The NRA should join with the government agencies to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and unstable people. Otherwise, it should become the National Assault Weapons Association, which is more definitive of its mission.
G.L. Ayers • Maryland Heights
