Risch, Crapo bow to the gun lobby

Prior to Bob Wynhausen’s recent letter, I called both Sens. James Risch and Mike Crapo’s offices urging them not to sign the filibuster, but to back the bipartisan proposal expanding background checks to cover gun shows — which is supported by most Americans and a majority of Republicans. But they bowed to the gun lobby again.

As the debate on gun control legislation continues in Congress and throughout the nation, a clear voice stands out. California District Judge Larry Alan Burns , who sentenced the shooter in the Tucson rampage to seven life terms in prison, questions the “social utility” of high-capacity magazines that fed his weapon, and also the expiration of the federal assault weapons ban in 2004. Half of the nation’s deadly shootings occurred after that, including the school massacre in Connecticut.

Judge Burns is a gun owner and a conservative, appointed to the bench by a Republican president, who support the Second Amendment right (as interpreted in the 2008 Heller Supreme Court ruling ) to possess guns for self defense. But as he says, “there is no reason civilians need to own assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Gun enthusiasts can still have their venison, shoot for sport and make a home invader flee for his life without pretending they are part of the SEAL team that took out Osama bin Laden.

“If we can’t draw a line on guns, we may as well call our experiment in democracy a failure,” the judge concludes.

JAMES W. RAMSEY

Kootenai