The semi-humorous column I had ready to file on the Fourth of July went into the trash when news of the parade shooting arrived. All I could think about was assault weapons that allow killers to effortlessly commit mass homicide. What has happened to us, that we can let this continue to occur and then say, “Let’s move on,” as one legislator said only hours after the July Fourth massacre.

Like yours, my stomach still churns, and my heart still aches, yet there are those who will turn a blind eye and offer, “Our prayers and thoughts are with the families of the victims.” Compromised prayers are never answered, though one might never find this out until he arrives at the Pearly Gates and is turned away.

Merchants of semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines, their lobbyists, and members of congress who traffic in the potential for predictable manslaughter, have blood on their hands. They watch in silence, as mass-murderers commandeer Armed Forces Day and call it their own.

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Those who have not been impacted firsthand by the carnage AR-15’s inflict are making decisions in congress that result in the slaughter of ever more innocent victims. To my mind, members of congress should be required to view a video showing what assault weapons do to human beings. Obviously they have no idea, and are only looking at numbers, while genuflecting to donors.

It was so sad that Illinois Senator Tammi Duckworth, wounded in combat, would have to say she had not heard rapid gunfire like that since she was in the combat zone of Iraq, where she was badly injured. Gun violence has become a blight on our society. I feel shame, and if you don’t feel shame, well, you are exhibit one of a larger malaise.

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As a former Marine who served in Vietnam, I would strongly recommend that we not make flamethrowers available to the general public, nor hand grenades, nor AR-15’s, as each is capable of inflicting excessive amounts of damage.

Many members of congress think the selling of assault weapons to the general public is ordained by God and the Second Amendment. They are devaluing Highland Park lives. Were they to have a human heart beating in their breast, they would never again allow such a lawful purchase, like that one, to take place.

Normally, I try to address conceived injustice with a modicum of humor, but today nothing less than a strong rebuke, and a voting out of our elected enablers will answer.

We must vote military weapons out of the hands of the general public, and back into the hands of their rightful stewards, the dedicated men and women of our United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Airforce and Coast Guard.

In closing I would ask members of congress two questions…

       1) Would you legally put an assault weapon in a killer’s hands?

             Answer: No, of course not.

2) Are there senseless killers out there who today have legal access to assault weapons?

Answer: Yes.

You have effectively abnegated your first answer.

Go and atone…

Audio: https://anchor.fm/mcavoy-layne