‘Black Rifles Matter’ sign stirs controversy in Maine tourist town

[benEzra]

62. A mass murder by a state-licensed security guard authorized to carry contractor-owned weapons

is a tough nut to crack. But requiring him to use a Ruger Mini-14 (or a Glock, for that matter) instead of a Sig Sauer would have changed absolutely nothing in that particular case. The rifle the murderer used fires no faster than any other civilian autoloader, and is on the low end of the lethality spectrum.

I'll also point out that France has had more mass-shooting deaths since 2008 than we have, all with illegally possessed weapons; France allows AR-15 ownership, but the terrorists didn't bother with civilian non-automatics and used smuggled-in military automatic weapons (and grenades) instead, which could be done here just as easily.

There are some things that could be done around the edges, mostly aimed at identifying radicalized individuals before they strike, discouraging radicalization, etc., though I oppose police-state measures like warrantless surveillance and secret blacklists. There may be some attainable common ground on background checks, too, though I think the gun control lobby has thoroughly burned those bridges now. But legislating handgrip shape, receiver/stock aesthetics, or magazine length accomplishes precisely nothing except to harass the lawful and nonviolent, diverts police resources away from more productive ends, and further deepens the police/community divide, IMO.