An individual does not have a right, under the 2nd Amendment, to possess any kind of weapon at any time for any purpose. That opinion’s not mine, but the Supreme Court’s as expressed by the late Justice Antonin Scalia. D.C., et. al. v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 626 (2008). 1/5

Assault-style weapons, banned by Federal law from 1994 to 2004, were defined. State laws also have defined what such a weapon is. A problem with the 1994 ban its loopholes. A 2019 study published in Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery concluded the ban worked. 2/5

Researchers also concluded a ban would have reduced mass shootings by 70%. The default position on weapons should not be “legal” until we can establish they’re bad. The 2nd Amendment is not so expansive as to include weapons of war. Heller, 554 U.S. at 626. 3/5

Semi-automatic handguns are widely used in mass shootings. If revolvers are the only available handguns, we reduce numbers of deaths. We can buy the weapons, melt them & have a grace period to do that. The U.S. can’t afford assault-style weapons or semi-auto handguns. 4/5

Tonight on Civil Discourse Now we’ll talk about guns. Our default position should not be to protect weapons. I’m Mark Small: pro-choice, pro environment, pro-civil rts & anti-gun GOP candidate for Indiana House Distr 86. I approve of this blog. Hell, I wrote it. 5/5