Ban Assault Weapons from Our Communities

In 2006, my son shot his stepfather in the head, then shot his mother twice in the heart, then shot himself five days later, placing the barrel of the collapsible AK 47 between his lips after returning to my home where he had grown up. As well as the human deaths and trauma to the community, it cost tax payers of New Mexico enormous sums of money for the manhunt that ensued with SWAT teams, packs of dogs and helicopters after the initial killings took place.

America has the highest rate of gun related deaths per capita of any industrialized country in the modern world. The frequency of mass killings in our country has been increasing dramatically, often involving assault weapons. Of the 30,470 firearm-related deaths in the United States in 2010, 19,392 (63.6%) were suicide deaths, and 11,078 (36.4%) homicide deaths. (National Center for Health Statistics, CDC. 2010)

New Mexicans and all Americans should be supporting stricter gun laws that eliminate the availability of assault weapons in our communities. Assault weapons are designed specifically for killing human beings and should be illegal in our civilian population.