Now that we have lost 20 beautiful, innocent children and six courageous and dedicated teachers, do you think any of our politicians will have the courage to finally submit a law against these assault weapons? If the past tragedies are any indication I'm afraid we will have a long wait.

Oh yes, you'll see them on TV talking their fool heads off and offering prayers for the innocent people but will they take the lead when they get back to Washington, D.C., or their individual state house? I think not because they need all the gun owners' votea and the NRA payoffs (oops, I mean campaign contributions) when they run for re-election.

Plain and simple, these guns are made for killing people and not animals. When was the last time you saw a hunter with an assault weapon with a magazine holding up to 30 rounds of ammunition?

Most people agree that we have the right to bear arms to protect ourselves, but do we really need an assault rifle that fires 460-900 rounds per minute? I think most people would agree that is just a wee bit excessive.

There will be more tragedies and we will still be talking about what to do.

Thomas J. Buckley

Caseyville