This one, from the Miami Herald, makes the patently false claim that AKs that fire 600 rounds per minute are legal for anyone to buy.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/ana_menendez/story/239241.html#recent_comm
There's no good reason to have an assault rifle
By ANA MENENDEZ
Officer Jose Somohano, 37, father of two, was the 151st person in Miami-Dade shot dead this year.
Outrage came quickly after Thursday's shooting. But it followed a numb, familiar pattern: Death followed by grief followed by some new atrocity that serves to inure us further to violence.
By now, only the most sheltered television-bereft hermit would be shocked at the image of cops in fatigues and combat helmets going after a madman with an AK-47.
Is this normal? A major American city that acts like it's at war?
Is it right that a place with a population of just over two million should lose more than 150 people yearly to guns?
We've created such a thoroughly messed up society, no one even remembers what safe means.
WHERE GUN LAWS WORK
Spare me the guns-don't-kill-people, people-kill-people platitude. Other countries are also full of people. And, with the possible exception of Iraq, few populations are killing each other with the competence we manage.
Take Sweden. In 2004, the country of nine million lost just 37 people to guns -- an entire country with fewer gun murders than Miami-Dade. England and Wales lost 73 people. Australia lost 56.
The number of people murdered with guns in the United States during the same period: 9,326 -- almost 10 times the rate in Sweden and three times the number of victims lost in the 9/11 attacks.
The difference is not that Sweden has fewer crazies. Or that Australians are unusually peace-loving. The difference is the law.
''European countries have extraordinarily strict gun laws,'' said Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Campaign, which seeks to reduce gun violence here. ``In some countries, it's virtually impossible to get a handgun.''
It's tragic that thousands of men, women and children are perishing in this country. It's terrifying that the people meant to protect them can't protect themselves.
''Sometimes we feel like we have water pistols against these guys,'' Police Benevolent Association president John Rivera told me Friday. ``Our weaponry does not match up with theirs. Even our vests don't match what they have.''
It's a problem facing police departments nationally, and some, including Miami, have opted to equip their cops with assault rifles. Rivera would love every officer to carry those kinds of weapons.
Even the Brady Campaign supports the idea. Said Hamm: ``Police officers should not be outgunned on the streets.''
Of course not. But I have a hard time accepting that more firepower is the solution. It sets in motion an endless arms race. So the cops get better guns. And the thugs get better guns. And the cops get better-better guns. And 100 years from now, everyone is packing customized nukes.
A CULTURE OF GUNS
There is, of course, a more sane solution. Though it's doubtful that we could reverse the damage of an out-of-control gun culture, at least we might outlaw assault rifles. Is that too much to ask?
It's still not clear how Shawn LaBeet got the assault rifle he used to kill a cop in Cutler Bay on Thursday. But most people are allowed to own one. That's right, unless you're a convicted felon or mentally ill, it's perfectly legal to own a weapon that can fire 600 rounds in one minute.
That's insane. These aren't made for hunting animals; they're for killing people. Why are these things even for sale?
Renew the assault weapons ban. It will be too late to save Jose Somohano, but it might save the next victim. Maybe even you.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/columnists/ana_menendez/story/239241.html#recent_comm