In a nation where we are struggling to contain a self-inflicted epidemic of violence, a nation that reeled with dismay in its attempt to reach clarity in the ongoing plague of gun violence, I open the paper and am confronted by an ad from a local sporting goods store for a gun. A sporting goods store, selling, and I quote, “Marine 12-Gauge TACTICAL Shotgun with Nanocoat. 6 (5+1) shot capacity. 20 inch Barrel length.”
A “tactical” weapon that is capable of six rapid shots is not a sporting good. It is a tool for a single purpose, to shoot other humans. That fact is immediately implied in the name.
My additional research indicates that a barrel length of 18.5 and 20 inches is the preferred length for “riot shotguns.”
Have mass shootings become a sport in America? Is this what we are willing to accept as a population? Are we willing to accept the sale of a weapon of this type under the cloak of being a “sporting good”? Personally, I am not. I encourage support of new laws requiring training and registration and limiting sales of this type of gun.
