Know your firearms

In the Tuesday, Jan. 9 edition of The Aspen Times, the article about Nicholas Ameral and Benjamin Weeks mentions a “submachine gun.”

I am not sure who is so ignorant about firearms that they would call a “semi-automatic rifle” a submachine gun. If it is the cops, they are obviously trying to inflame the public about the possession of firearms. If it is the author of the article, Ryan Summerlin, he needs to look up “submachine gun” in Webster’s dictionary, if he knows how to use one.

Webster’s says a “submachine gun is an automatic firearm fired from the shoulder or the hip.” I doubt that Alicia Jackson had the proper license to purchase one of these for her son as stated in your article. Accurate reporting is of utmost importance and research should have discovered the difference in the weapons.

James A. Wingers

Aspen