A week ago, hundreds of gunshots rang out in the hills of Big Bear Lake, Calif.
Two men were left dead.
One was killed by an assailant; the other took his own life.
CBS reporter Carter Evans was lucky enough to capture a few minutes of the battle on tape. In his footage, numerous heavily armed police officers are held at bay, firing round after round at their suspected assailant, former Los Angeles Police Department and Naval Reserve officer Christopher Dorner as he took refuge in a cabin.
If the video was not labeled correctly, you would believe you were watching video from a war zone.
But that’s what Dorner had in mind — to make southern California a war zone, to bring “warfare” to the LAPD, according to his manifesto released Feb. 4.
Warfare is exactly what he was prepared for.
He boasted his arsenal comprised of Barrett .50 caliber rifles, AR-15s, suppressors or silencers and smoke grenades.
It’s easy to write Dorner off as “crazy” — after being fired from the LAPD in 2008 because of alleged corruption and racism within the department, he decided to get revenge — but his opinions on gun control are quite rational.
He acknowledged how ridiculous it was for him to acquire the amount of firepower he did.
“If [the United States] had a well-regulated AWB [assault weapons ban], this would not happen,” he wrote in the manifesto, before questioning why any citizens or sportsmen would need a 30-round magazine, an AR-15 or a suppressor.
He even went as far as pointing out that the main distinction between the military-issued M4 Carbine and M16 and the civilian AR-15, the select fire option that allows the user to switch between semi-automatic, full automatic and three-round burst, is “bullshit.”
“Troops who carry the M4/M16 weapon system for combat ops outside the wire rarely utilize the select fire function when in contact with enemy combatants,” he wrote. “The use of select fire probably isn’t even 1 percent in combat. So in essence, the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle is the same as the M4/M16.”
That’s the same thing I was told as a Boy Scout when the SWAT team would visit us — fully automatic shooting was for movies and video games.
Dorner, who wrote that he had never been convicted of a crime, said he purchased guns without background checks after the dealer saw his military ID.
His experience isn’t uncommon. Buy a gun at a gun show. See how long it takes. You might have to remind them to perform a background check.
Current calls for increased background checks and mental health evaluations are crucial to keep firearms out of the hands of the wrong people.
But they only go so far.
Someone like Dorner could have been psychologically evaluated and determined unfit to own a gun this year, but what about last year?
And how do we continue the evaluation process?
Are people supposed to be evaluated every year to determine whether they are crazy? Every month?
It’s not realistic.
What is realistic is an all-out assault weapons ban, which includes banning 30-round magazines and military-styled weapons such as the AR-15.
The guns are based on those designed to enhance an individual’s firepower in an effort to kill enemy combatants in war zones without having to reload.
They’re designed to be light, maneuverable and effective — at killing people.
Other than being a cool novelty item for some, they have absolutely no place in civilian hands.
Think of it in the way most people can’t own, distribute or possess high-powered explosives. Sure, you could use them for a non-violent purpose, but it’s probably better if most individuals don’t to have them.
And as far as high-capacity magazines go, gun owner and noted author Stephen King put it simply in his essay “Guns”: “If you can’t kill a home invader (or your wife, up in the middle of the night to get a snack from the fridge) with 10 shots, you need to go back to the local shooting range.”
It’s time for people to be rational. Mental health and background checks won’t solve the whole problem.
An assault weapons ban doesn’t mean an all-out firearm ban.
You’ll still be able to buy your guns and accessories — just not the ones that make it incredibly easy to execute many people without reloading.
Chris Grillot is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from New Orleans.
Ryan Brooks, of Shelton, Wash., holds his AR-15 rifle as he attends a gun rights rally Friday, Feb. 8, 2013, at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Several hundred people gathered and spoke against proposed legislation at both the state and national levels aimed at curbing gun violence. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
