In the wake of the tragedy in Newton, Connecticut, the Obama Administration is considering a number of options to try to reduce gun violence, including banning assault weapons. I believe in protecting 2nd Amendment rights to traditional firearms, used for hunting and personal safety. However, I can't think of a good reason someone would need military-style assault weapons that make mass shootings numerically more deadly. One could argue that they are necessary in case we'd ever need to overthrow the government. To that I'd say that we'd need a lot more than assault rifles...we'd need missile launchers, tanks, bombs, fighter jets, etc., etc.
After this cartoon was published, I discovered another editorial cartoonist had used a similar gag with Linus using an assault rifle for a security blanket. To my relief I noticed that theirs was created after mine, so if anyone could claim plagiarism I could. I'm not that petty though, and can appreciate that warped minds can unconsciously think alike.