The fact is that if the President, Congress and Supreme Court fail to act now in banning high capacity assault rifles, the NRA and all gun-related industries will see their stocks climb drastically as we all rush out to arm ourselves, feeling this to be our only recourse in protecting ourselves from unknowable sources of lawlessness -- we would all become NRA members. What a prospect. The USA will be dubbed USAC, the United States of Armed Citizens. Tourism would fall, no-one would want to negotiate trade with us let alone peace with us, and there will be a mass exodus of good people pursuing their freedom to choose to NOT bear arms. The freedom to not bear arms in this country is daily threatened with each moment of inaction by private citizens… This is the time for all of us to raise our voices in outrage -- or not.

I am close to looking to train with and then buy one of these fine specimens depicted here to protect myself from people angry with my position. Because guess what? We all will lose our freedom of speech as well. Our freedom to live authentic lives will disappear.

What makes this country unique and different is its stance on the Freedom to pursue our individual happiness. Our country contains disturbing elements asserting that the freedom to bear any type of weaponry actually protects our freedoms… I have to instill fear in another in order to get my point across, this is the way to assert my freedom. I need to prove my independence by having a gun allowing me to assert my will in society. I need to promote the fact that this is an unsafe world, and demonstrate this to my children and teach them to grow up in fear. Where, I ask, is Freedom? Let Freedom ring -- peace, laws, and justice are the way. Let us stand for Freedom from Fear. Let us work for freedom from preventable disasters that we create ourselves.

The NRA says more guns are the answer -- in our schools and other gun-free zones. So now would-be perpetrators will merely up the ante. Instead of assault rifles, they will bear down in some armored vehicle and cause even further mayhem, throwing hand grenades and firing small bombshells in addition to assault rifles. Where will this madness end?

We created a speed limit on our freeways; traffic death tolls plummeted, and we all still own cars. We can likewise impose a single bullet per trigger "speed limit" for private citizen gun ownership. And impose prison terms for failure to secure one's weapons responsibly. For heaven's sake, let common sense rule the day.

GET THESE HIGH-CAPACITY ASSAULT RIFLES OFF OUR STREETS.

We are a country of the people, for the people and by the people. We are not a country of the NRA, for the NRA and by the NRA.