News alert! Again! And again! And too often!

On Dec. 2, we learned of another mass shooting – this time in California, and not just by one person. By the time I finished this article, police had found two and dispatched them (you might say).

President Obama spoke about it with all the expression of one who has had to say the same thing much too often. The story is now to be expected almost daily.

In 1994, Congress enacted the “Assault Weapon Ban.” The Washington Post wrote: “There are fully automatic weapons, which fire continuously when the trigger is held down. Those have been strictly regulated since 1934. Then there are semiautomatic weapons that reload automatically but fire only once each time the trigger is depressed. Semiautomatic pistols and rifles come in all shapes and sizes and are extremely common in the United States.”

The Assault Weapons Ban was written to expire after 10 years. Gun manufacturers did not wait! The bill was complex, which made it rather simple to make modifications to existing models. Bushmaster, formerly located in Windham, began to expand their facilities long before the ban expired in anticipation of a surge in gun sales. The ban expired in 2004. Both Rep. Chellie Pingree and former Sen. Olympia Snowe sniveled, “Oh, what a blow to the Windham economy!” Let me be clear, I hope those employees who lost their jobs from the plant closure have found meaningful employment.

Remember the nationwide spree of drive-by shootings in 2002 that climaxed in October of that year in the Washington, D.C., area? Do you also remember that the weapon used in that shooting was a Bushmaster AR-15 semiautomatic .223 caliber rifle equipped with an EOTechholographic weapon sight? And that it was made right here in Windham? I can’t help it. Still, after 13 years, whenever I see a white van, I think of that rifle that was made in the town where I live.

And today I learned that a Bushmaster assault rifle was also used as one of the principal weapons in the Sandy Hook massacre of little children. It was also probably made right here in Windham.

I fear we have dug ourselves into a deep pit of murder and violence. All those guns that are so handy will only deepen the pit of darkness.

Sally Breen lives in Windham. Her only weapon is her computer keyboard.