Rhode Island has enacted a handful of smart gun laws in the past decade, but it is not enough. At least five common-sense gun regulation bills sit stagnant in the Rhode Island General Assembly, where they have been locked in committee for years.

These bills would ban military-style rifles and high-capacity magazines, mandate safe storage of weapons in the home, make it illegal to carry loaded rifles in public, and raise the minimum age for purchasing long guns to 21.

Opponents often retaliate against gun control measures, relying on the slippery-slope argument that any restrictions on guns will lead to more restrictions, until the proverbial “they” eventually “come for our guns!”

It’s an absurd argument, removed from reality. The government in this country is not going to take away all the guns, and it’s long past time to ditch that hyperbole.

What the government should do is recognize the differences between guns for hunting, guns for defending one’s home and person, guns for killing people, and guns for killing lots of people. Regardless of how they are defined in a legal sense, anyone applying common sense knows the difference between guns designed for defense and guns designed for killing.

Get rid of the guns designed for killing. There is no argument to justify their sales and ownership in this country, and every time a teenager uses these weapons to execute innocent souls, the tears and moments of silence are painfully insignificant.