Here's my letter:
Mr. O’Reilly,
Over the past few years I have been an avid fan of your television show, radio show, and patron of your books. I have also done my part to expand your viewer base by turning my entire family and many friends “on” to your shows.
My admiration for your usual honesty and frankness in issues has led me to be very disappointed to learn your views on “assault weapons” and the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban. After doing so much to support you as a fan, I challenge you, the “humble correspondent,” to take a few moments to educate yourself on the facts about assault weapons. You owe it to your fans to spread the truth, not rumors and lies.
An assault weapon is one that is designed for assisting in the close-combat phase of an attack. One would surmise that the appropriate tool for this job would be a fully automatic weapon, one that would fire several rounds with the single squeeze of a trigger. Firearms such as the M16 or AK-47 are such weapons you may be familiar with from seeing footage of our troops and enemies in action. There are civilian versions of these rifles that can only fire in a semi-automatic function. That is, one shot per squeeze of the trigger. While civilians have been in possession and continual use of semi-automatic firearms for over a century, they have not been subject to such false ridicule until several models of these semi-automatic firearms took on the aesthetic appearance of fully automatic assault weapons.
Semi-automatic firearms such as the AR-15 and civilian AK-47 maintain the appearance of their fully automatic counterparts, the M16 and AK-47 respectively. However, these firearms, with their semi-automatic function, are not suited for the same purpose. They are commonly used among civilians as outstanding recreation, hunting, and home defense rifles. Unlike many on the far-left will tell you, these weapons substantiate a remarkable minority in the number of firearms used in crimes.
Bill Clinton’s 1994 Assault Weapons Ban (1994 Crime Bill) did not actually ban fully automatic assault weapons. Those were banned from civilian possession soon after Prohibition in 1934. Instead, Clinton’s ban outlawed semi-automatic firearms with certain combinations of aesthetic features such as pistol grips, muzzle flash hiders, and detachable magazines. This legislation has proven fruitless, as civilians can still purchase AR-15’s and AK-47’s without the banned features, and the ban was recently proven ineffective in preventing crime by a government endorsed impact evaluation.
Mr. O’Reilly, I understand you are a supporter of our right to keep and bear arms; but for what reason? If you support our 2nd Amendment Rights, then how do you not see through the fiction of “assault weapons?” Feel free to respond to these questions.
I encourage you to research this matter further for future debate. There are many resources available from the National Rifle Association and other 2nd Amendment groups to answer your questions. I can only beg you to reintroduce this topic on your television and radio shows; this time with the appropriate guests prepared to discuss the topic, and yourself, armed with the truth.
Sincerely,
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