George Skelton: No reason for high-powered guns

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George Skelton knows all about the allure of guns. His first one was a Remington bolt-action, single-shot .22 rifle, a gift from his father.

But he doesn’t understand people’s need for high-capacity ammo magazines, he writes in Monday’s column.

‘Neither do I get the objection to registering guns or licensing owners,’ he says. ‘Or requiring a license to buy ammunition, for that matter — not when a slight inconvenience could save lives.’

Skelton says that the hunting culture that he grew up with has been replaced with ‘a narrower gun worship based on the fear of other humans.’

‘Nobody back then contemplated 30-round magazines. An assault weapon would have been considered an unnecessary squanderer of costly ammo,’ he says.

After Friday’s massacre at a Connecticut elementary school, Skelton says, Obama and Congress need to reinstate the ban on assault weapons and pursue new legislation, like limits on ammunition capacity.

All of Skelton’s columns are here.

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