This is the first of a two-part series about gun control.

We have enough gun control laws on the books. There is no need to add more.

My view of guns and gun control is simple. The second amendment allows citizens of the United States to own firearms. As passed by Congress; "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Definitions

The first step in a gun control discussion should be to define various weapons. Some of which, have no use in civilian hands. Others, however, are used in hunting deer, elk, ducks, pheasants and geese.

There is no need for the average citizen to own hand grenades, which are used for close combat. This device is best described as a hand-held bomb, which releases fragment of metal upon detonation.

The result is several soldiers can be killed or wounded with one grenade. There is no need for the average citizen to own hand grenades, which are used for close combat.

This device is best described as a hand-held bomb, which releases fragment of metal upon detonation. The result is several soldiers can be killed or wounded with one grenade.

Rocket propelled grenades, which we know as RPGs, are items we don't need or want in the hands of average citizens. These are similar to what we remember from World War II as the bazooka.

RPGs were used effectively to down several helicopters in my aviation unit in Vietnam. During an insertion of troops into a hot landing zone, the enemy would fire machine guns and other rifles, along with mortars and RPGs.

The Army had a similar hand-held weapon, known as the M-72 light anti-tank weapon, known as the LAW. These disposable weapons knocked out a bunch of enemy bunkers south of Saigon during several battles.

Mortar

These are similar to an artillery howitzer, but are used at a closer range. A mortar fires an explosive projectile in a high arc.

It was normal for the enemy in Vietnam to fire three mortar rounds and run before we could fire back. The mortar fire usually hit our base camp at around 3 a.m., so our sleep was interrupted.

An artillery howitzer fires several types of rounds, but mainly high explosive designed to kill a bunch of people at one time.

There is no need for the average citizen to own these types of weapons.

Machine guns; fully-automatic firearms

There seems to be confusion about machine guns, which are fully-automatic firearms. The big and heavy machine guns can be seen in war footage on a tripod with one soldier firing the weapon and another holding an ammunition belt to assist the feeding of the ammunition.

A submachine gun is a full-automatic firearm which fires pistol ammunition, such as a .45 round.

The fully-automatic firearm, no matter if it is a larger and heavier machine gun or a handheld submachine gun, such as the Tommy Gun or the Israeli Uzi, functions by continuing to fire bullets with the trigger pulled and held in the fire position.

The shooter only needs to pull the trigger and hold it in place. Fully-automatic firearms are highly regulated by the individual states and the federal government.

Semi-automatic firearms

A semi-automatic firearm fires only one round when the trigger is pulled. The shooter needs to release the trigger and pull it again to fire another around.

It was easy to detect the difference between an automatic or semi-automatic firearm when the enemy was firing at my helicopter.

A fully-automatic weapon made a sound like bamamamamam, which sounded as if the five shots were one word. A semi-automatic weapon sounded as each round was a different word, because the shooter needed to pull the trigger each time to fire a round. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.

In a hunting situation, no matter the type of firearm I have in my hands, the target needs to be found in the rifle scope and the trigger squeezed. Next another bullet needs to be placed in the chamber. A semi-automatic rifle will do this operation by itself, without more help from the shooter.

A bolt-action rifle requires the shooter to operate the bolt, back and forward again, in order to put another cartridge in the chamber.

A lever-action rifle needs the lever to be pushed forward and pulled back to do the same. When another cartridge is in the chamber, the target needs to be found and the trigger squeezed again before a round is fired.

A fully-automatic firearm will spray an area with bullets, which is what a soldier wants when the enemy is charging his position. The hunter wants to put a bullet in a specific spot in a precise and exact manner. There is no reason a fully-automatic firearm would be used for hunting.

Next week: Answering the question; will the proposed new gun laws make a difference?