Dear editor: Assault weapons, the NRA and our cowardly Republican Congress: I am a retired Phoenix police officer.

I have been shot at several times, and hit! Had I been shot with the type of assault rifle used in the Orlando Massacre and now Uvalde Texas, and many other mass shootings I would not have survived to be writing here today!

I have great appreciation for the dangers current day officers are confronted with far too often, been there and done that for 30 years!

Our former president, Trump, Congress and the NRA contribute to the dangers of policing our schools and communities through their refusal to restrict assault-type weaponry to those that should have it: the police and our military! There is no legitimate purpose for every Tom, Dick and Harry to possess this type of armament! Most hunters can kill Bambi with one shot!

Yes, I believe strongly in the 2nd Amendment and have no problem with legal possession of guns, except for assault-type weaponry; I acknowledge the difficulty of definition, but in my opinion it is entirely constitutional and rational to restrict these weapons, which are designed to only kill other human beings!

Yes, I understand that if banned, some would obtain, possess and use them illegally. No, prohibition and the war on drugs did not work and knives, axes and bombs also kill. Guns are an entirely different problem.

 If assault weapons were illegal for import or manufacture for other than authorized users, there would be less opportunity for the Orlando Nutcase, and now the Uvalde, Texas shooters and others to obtain them, at least temporarily.

If our Congress was not indebted to and in bed with the NRA, and totally consumed with re-election, law enforcement could link prohibited possessors with gun purchasers during reasonable waiting periods of at least 4-5 days. This would keep assault weaponry and guns in general out of the hands of many terrorists and the criminally insane, at least temporarily in many cases.

I am amazed and saddened that many of my retired law enforcement friends and associates oppose any reasonable limitations on gun control, citing the 2nd Amendment and expressing concern that the government, especially Obama and now Biden, will come to take their guns away.

Former officers should be the first to stand up and work toward trying to lessen the exposure of current officers, whose jobs are dangerous enough without being outgunned too often while protecting society from the criminal and terrorist element. We, the retired law enforcement officers could make a difference in this huge problem, but too many of us are stuck on stupid!

If we do not do this, we are complicit just like Congress and the gun lobby.

If the NRA and Congressional big-wigs were on the street doing the job of our officers, I think that the changes I refer to would happen sooner, rather than later!

It is criminal that this has not already been done.

I find it interesting that the president, Congress and our Arizona Legislature will have nothing to do with citizens possessing any type of weapon in their presence or offices.