Close call with assault weapons
SKS 7 gun that was used in the Bellmore shooting Credit: Photo by Howard Schnapp
Jason Beller, the troubled gunman who wounded a Bellmore firefighter and was then killed by police, apparently was bent on mayhem, judging by the arsenal he had on hand in his truck.
That arsenal, which thankfully wasn't used to take anyone's life, included three assault-style weapons. Whatever Beller's plan, it ended because his pickup truck struck a pole. We're not always going to be so lucky. Tuesday's episode underscores the need for a new federal ban on semi-automatic firearms, one harder to skirt than the old law, to stem the flow of these uniquely dangerous guns.
Gun violence is a continuing American plague making us unique among affluent nations. Semi-automatic weapons, with their rapid-fire killing power, are the least defensible guns of all. No civilian needs these things, which can give a madman or criminal the power to wipe out large numbers of people fast.
Police everywhere have called for them to be restricted, as have Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. So has Long Island's own Rep. Carolyn McCarthy. Most Americans favor a ban as well.
At the very least, Congress should adopt McCarthy's proposed ban on high-capacity magazines.
Beller was stopped. In Arizona, where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was gravely wounded and six others died, we weren't so lucky. How many more bodies must pile up? hN
