To the editor:

For years Linda Finn and Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, the extremist gun-control lobby she helped found, have conducted a dishonest campaign to eliminate the Second Amendment right of citizens to protect themselves and their families with legally owned firearms.

Their false statements about the AR-15 modern sporting rifle is just one example of the mountain of misinformation she and her group peddle. Finn is running for representative for House District 72 (large portions of Portsmouth and Middletown) to continue her radical attack on our Second Amendment rights.

My challenge to her: I will send $100 to Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence if any — any — of the following claims she and her group make about the AR-15 are true:

• The AR-15 is a weapon of war. False: This rifle is not used by the U.S. military. Civilians use it for competition, hunting and home protection.

• The AR-15 is extraordinary lethal. False: The round used in the majority of these rifles is among the least powerful available. It fires a small .22 caliber bullet with far less energy than the ammunition used by U.S. forces in World War I, World War II and Korea.

• “AR” stands for "assault rifle." False: It is for ArmaLite Rifle, the company that developed it.

• The AR-15 is not suitable for home defense. False: Because of its compact size, accuracy and reliability, many experts consider the AR-15 excellent for home protection.

• The AR-15 fires faster than other semiautomatic rifles. False: It does not fire more rapidly than other semiautomatics, which have been available to civilians for well over 100 years. Each shot requires the separate squeeze of the trigger. The AR-15 is not a fully automatic rifle, which fires continuously until the trigger is released.

• AR-15s are flooding our inner cities. False: By far the weapons of choice for street gangs, drug dealers and other criminals are handguns that are illegally acquired. 

If the AR-15 is such a dangerous killing machine, how come repeated studies — including those by the federal government — found no increase in the homicide rate after the 10-year ban on AR-15s ended in 2004? This firearm accounts for less than 1 percent of homicides nationwide. Yet gun controllers would have us believe that banning AR-15s would make us far safer when the facts show it won’t.

Nothing Finn says in her deceitful campaign to pass laws against the right of law-abiding citizens to own firearms can be trusted.

Mindless gun-control campaigns driven by fear, ignorance and lies will not produce effective measures to make us safer. And those who lead them should not be elected to office.

My facts are easily verified at numerous reputable websites. Who is telling the truth? Ms. Finn, there is $100 waiting for you if you are.

Bill Welch

180 Mitchell’s Lane

Portsmouth