Assault Weapons Bill Passed

Re “Legislature OKs Tough Controls on Assault Weapons,” July 13: Every time some criminal breaks the law all of us law-abiding gun owners pay the price. Now my 60-year-old semiautomatic historic firearm is classified as an illegal assault weapon and makes me a criminal if I don’t pay another fee to re-register it.

I am not a criminal but a family man and a professional businessman who is only exercising my 2nd Amendment right to legally own a firearm for sport and family protection. It seems that the California Democrats want to disarm law-abiding citizens. Who is going to protect our families when all guns are outlawed in California? We need our firearms to protect our families, livestock and property.

If Sacramento wants to do something to combat crime, then put some of the budget surplus into rebuilding inner cities, creating jobs, getting gangs off the streets and locking up criminals who use guns.

PAUL HARMON

Hesperia

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Horrors! I looked in my closet and found an assault weapon. It’s been there 50 years, is a semiautomatic rifle and loads over 10 .22-caliber shells. It’s a wonder my generation survived.

ROBERT M. DOUMAKES

Los Angeles

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Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (Opinion, July 11) got it wrong when she blamed the NRA for Congress’ defunding of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s gun research. In fact it was two national physician groups (Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership and Doctors for Integrity in Policy Research Inc.) that testified in Congress for cutting the CDC’s funds for gun research.

McCarthy may not know about the antigun pamphlet the CDC paid for with tax dollars.

We doctors showed the House subcommittee hard evidence of the CDC’s effort to push a political agenda of gun control. The CDC was guilty of science abuse and taxpayer abuse. And Congress was right in fixing it.

TIMOTHY WHEELER MD

Doctors for Responsible Gun

Ownership, Upland