Greta Samwel: LOCAL COLUMN: No layperson should own an assault rifle

Nov. 11—I don't know how many animals I have euthanized in my 40 years of veterinary practice. It is definitely in the thousands.

I distinctly remember the first time I assisted in euthanizing dogs. I was 15 and working for a mixed animal veterinarian on the west side of Moore. He had a weekly "call" to go to the Newcastle animal shelter. It would be the last thing we did on Fridays.

We would usually show up after the staff had gone home for the night because our days always went long. We had a key to get in the back door.

There would be a list of dogs. Usually 10-15 dog cage numbers would be on it actually. We would go cage to cage. I would hold them as he would inject them in the heart with euthanasia solution.

We would put their corpses in a chest style deep freezer. The staff would dispose of them on Monday.

Once I had a test question in veterinary school. Describe ten ways to euthanize a horse that was hung up in a fence mortally injured and suffering — without using euthanasia solution. It was based on the real life fact many times we have to improvise in veterinary medicine.

I described how to shoot them with a rifle. Where and how shoot them with a shotgun. Where and how to shoot them with a pistol. The list went on and is too gruesome to describe in this column.

I have hunted my whole life. I've hunted dove. I've hunted quail. I've hunted pheasants and chukkar. I have hunted ducks. I have hunted geese.

I have hunted deer. I have hunted elk. I have hunted hogs.

I have guns. I have my grandpa's 110-year-old Winchester 32-40 rifle that rode in his rifle scabbard hanging off his saddle as he cowboyed in western Oklahoma before the Dust Bowl.

I have shotguns. I have a handgun that an Australian horse trainer gave me 35 years ago because he was returning home and Australia doesn't allow general public handgun ownership.

I've been around all this killing and guns my whole life and I cannot think of one reason why a layperson should own a high capacity assault weapon.

I was walking into church this morning and there was a black pick up truck with very dark tinted windows sitting in the driveway. Not parking, just sitting in the drive. I definitely took notice.

I went in the church door and to my left a security guard was sitting at the desk. I asked an usher buddy of mine if he had seen the pick up truck.

He said, "Yes, it's a new security guard stationed in the parking lot."

You know, walking into a fortified church doesn't make me feel closer to God. In fact, it makes me not want to go to church. It definitely doesn't make me feel good about my grandkids going to Sunday school.

A couple weeks ago a gunman killed 18 people and injured 13 others during a shooting spree at two locations in Lewiston, Maine.

According to newspaper reports he used a Ruger SFAE, an AR-10 rifle that fires a .308 caliber cartridge, even more powerful than the AR-15.

Surveillance photos suggest that the shooter equipped his Ruger SFAR rifle with tactical gear, including an optic or red-dot sight, a flashlight, and 20-round magazines that were taped together for faster reloading, a tactic often referred to as "jungle style." By taping two magazines together, the shooter was able to bolster his capacity to that of 40 rounds.

How can it be legal for a layperson to purchase this type of rifle and equipment?

The AP reports the shooter, an Army reservist, ten days after purchasing an assault rifle was "hearing voices," and having thoughts about "hurting other soldiers."

How did that guy end up owning a military-style weapon designed for human slaughter? Don't even go there with me if you are going to argue it's a hunting weapon.

To add insult to injury the New York Times reports the Maine gunman disclosed he had mental health issues to a gun shop owner earlier this summer.

How did that not send off all kinds of red flags?

What we are doing in terms of public safety from gun violence is not working. We must do something different.

We need to do the common sense thing. The thing the vast majority of the people in this country agree upon doing. We need to outlaw assault style weapons.

Every day, 120 Americans are killed with guns.

According to Every Town, to date, AR-15s manufactured by Ruger have been used by mass shooters in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and Boulder, Colorado, and AR-10s produced by Ruger have now been recovered in two of the country's deadliest mass shootings: Las Vegas and Lewiston.

According to a House of Representatives Oversight Committee report, "Ruger's gross earnings from AR-15-style rifles nearly tripled from 2019 to 2021, increasing from $39 million to over $103 million." What?

It's getting even crazier. The Washington Post reports in the article; WE'RE SEEING FEAR: Maine killings prompt spike in gun purchases.

The article quotes a Lewiston resident as saying, "A phone call wouldn't have saved somebody, a knife wouldn't have saved somebody. A taser wouldn't have saved somebody. Your best chance of survival in that situation is having a gun."

I have an another idea for that guy — let's not let crazy people buy assault weapons or, even better, let's not let anyone buy assault weapons.

It's crazy to know the vicious cycle of gun sales, shootings, the fear of guns and gunmen are driving more gun sales.

What a terrible indictment of our society. What an indictment of the anemic perception of public safety from law enforcement. What a great business model for Ruger and gun manufacturers like them.

There is no reason a person should own a military weapon. A weapon that's used for mass slaughter.

Do you feel safer after all these gun sales? Nope. It's making it worse.

We are losing the psychology of safety battle and that's bad for our mental health.

The City of Norman, Cleveland County, and Norman Public Schools have coughed up millions of dollars in annual salaries for school resource officers — SRO's.

SRO's are a sworn officers assigned to a school on a long-term basis trained to perform three major roles: law enforcement officer, law-related counselor, and law-related educator. Do we feel any safer? No!

We have spent 10's of millions of dollars "fortifying" schools. Now I am not saying our schools aren't safer, but do we feel any safer? No!

Here's the evidence. The Washington Post reports home schooling is fastest-growing form of education. They describe the growth as "explosive." Moving from a fringe movement to mainstream post-covid with school safety being a major driver.

Are we headed toward a time in this country where we leave our fortified house in our fortified car heading to a fortified school or fortified workplace?

All because some legislators don't have the cojones to stand up to the gun lobby? I hope not, but it sure looks like we are.

If you're a legislator, use a little common sense and do something. Outlaw military style assault weapons.

I had a conversation with a gun obsessed friend of mine about this. He said, "there will be a revolution if the government tries to take our guns."

He went onto say, "At least there will be in Oklahoma. We are a little more redneck than the rest of the country."

I said, "no one wants to take your guns, just the assault rifles."

"It doesn't matter," he said. "There will still be a revolution."

I said, "Ok, fair enough, but what if we banned their manufacture and sale, didn't take them from anyone but offered $5000 for those $500 AR's you can buy at any gun shop?"

"Hmmm," he said. "Now that's different." It appears revolutionary's do have a price.

Nonetheless, this country has to do something different about gun violence because what we are doing is not working.

I say find a palatable way to do away with assault weapons. That would be a big step in the right direction.