I don’t care who I offend: The U.S. needs new gun control laws.

1. Require a background check for all gun purchases. A no-brainer.

2. Ban the sale of military-type weapons and limit the size of magazine clips to something like 10 rounds. A no-brainer.

3. If someone feels the need or desire to use these military-style weapons, they should be allowed to go to a secure, licensed rifle range that controls the use of these weapons. Sounds reasonable to me.

In no way do we change our Second Amendment rights. But some logic has to apply to what the intention was when the amendment stated “the right to keep and bear (arms).” What limit do we place on arms? A pee shooter? A BB gun? A musket? An assault rifle? A bazooka? How about a tank? At some point, common sense has to prevail and gun laws need to be revised to recognize the need for changes.

These changes may (will not) stop a deranged person from attempting to commit a single or the mass murder of innocent victims. But if we could impose stricter gun regulations there is no question many hundreds of lives would be saved on an annual basis.

Charles R Burns, Jr.

Vassalboro