This Republican calls for assault rifle ban

A lifelong conservative Republican, I am a supporter of the Second Amendment and a gun owner since I was a teenager. However, I join my liberal friends in advocating for a ban on assaulttype guns. They are not a good choice for hunting or target shooting, and many experts say a shotgun is a better weapon to protect your home from attack. These weapons should only be in the hands of law enforcement or the military.

Some of the other things being done to eliminate mass shootings are good, like more intensive background checks, increased interest in watching those with mental health concerns, and delaying the purchase of guns by a certain time-frame as well as the age of the purchaser. But eliminating these weapons with their much higher-velocity round that tears people up is the top thing that needs to happen to reduce the death toll.

In the 60-odd years I have been voting, I voted only once for a Democrat in a major election: Hillary Clinton in 2016 (for reasons that have lately become painfully obvious to most everyone).

However, I strongly solicit my fellow conservatives, at least until the current crises of mass shootings is contained, to join me in voting for whichever candidate, in whatever election, regardless of party, who promises to vote to banish assault-type weapons.

PHILIP KLINE, BOYNTON BEACH