I don't own a gun.
I have not held a gun since I put down my BB-Gun as a kid.
That is one of the reasons I am usually reluctant to get drawn into the gun control debate.
But we're way past that point now.
If Columbine and Sandy Hook did not change us, then Parkland just might.
The debate continues over how to stop these kinds of mass gun shootings.
Young people are mobilizing and making their voices heard. They are planning a walkout on March 14 on the one-month anniversary of the shooting that took 17 lives in Parkland, Fla. And they are making plans for a massive march on Washington, D.C., for March 24.
But nothing I have read or heard has moved me in quite the way as something I recently read on this topic.
Unlike me, Dr. John Nagl is very familiar with guns, in particular the AR-15 semi-automatic weapon that now seems to be the weapon of choice in these mass attacks.
Nagl used a very similar rifle, an M-16, himself during his tour of duty in Iraq.
Nagl, a West Point grad who retired from the U.S.Army, is now headmaster of the Haverford School.
He knows the purpose of the AR-15 - to kill people as rapidly as possible.
He talks about something that is not often talked about - the damage inflicted by a bullet fired from an AR-15.
Nagl has a simple way of changing the nation's mood when it comes to these killing machines.
He believes we should see - up close and personal - the damage they inflict.
He believes people like me should publish the photos of the children killed by these weapons.
Nagl believes our children are no longer safe in schools, and it's our own fault.
It might be the most powerful thing I've ever read on this issue.
You can read it here.
Comments
Everyday I send you truth and you choose to ignore me.
The AR is not a M16. You do not put a racing stripe on a Prius and make it an Indy car.
Fact. Assault weapon is made up term.
Fact. No able bodied vet would choose an AR to go into a battle
Fact. Select fire, metalergical differences in barrels and internal components are different.
I am a honorably discharges Veteran. I am a certified firearms instructor with thousands of people taught to shoot safely.
If these rifles are inherently dangerous is mine defective? I have fired mine over 10,000 times, and not one person was hurt. There are 10 million of these rifles in common use today.
The 2nd amendment is there for a specific reason.