Waiting for a plan on how to make an assault weapons ban work

To the Editor;

I am commenting on the editorial concerning U.S. Sen. Angus King’s proposal to reduce gun violence and in particular the words: “It is a modest bill that is far short of a ban on assault weapons, which many people — including the BDN editorial board — have called for.”

I have had an AR-15 since 2010. It stays under my bed and is loaded with a 30-round magazine. I only fire it to keep my skills sharp at a shooting range in the woods. It’s fun to shoot and very accurate. I also keep a loaded 9 mm pistol on my bed stand. This one is my concealed carry. 

For four years out of my 27-year U.S. Air Force career, I was a member of the USAF Security Forces. I worked for the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department. I have taken a basic firearms safety course multiple times and while in Florida many years ago, I took a three-week course taught by retired law enforcement officers so I could work as an armed security guard in that state. I have a multimillion dollar liability insurance policy that covers me and also provides legal services and much more should, God forbid, I ever have to shoot someone.

All that said, I agree that assault-type weapons should be banned as your editorial staff would like to see. What I would like to see in print from your editorial staff is just how that would happen and how it would work. In other words, print the details of how this would happen. To “ban” something means to prohibit someone from having it. Given the article from Forbes titled, “U.S. Has At Least 20 Million Assault Rifles. A Ban Wouldn’t Reduce That Number”: please tell me and your readers what a “workable” ban would look like. I’m waiting.

When you come up with something that will work, I will be the first in line to turn in mine. How will you get criminals to turn in their ARs? How does one predict when someone who has one of these weapons is going off the deep end? Twenty-plus million of these weapons are in the U.S. Waiting for your plan. Would love to see it.

David Winslow

Brewer