'There is no place for fire power in America's shooting sports'

When my Vietnam tour was over in December 1971 and I returned to the States, I left my M16 assault weapon behind. My bottom line is that there is no place for fire power in America's shooting sports.
The terms fire power, assault and weapon are all part of an infantry squad's training and tactics, but not part of shooting sports. Hunting, target practice, marksmanship, competitive shooting, skeet shooting, trap shooting and even the pentathlon do not involve fire power.
So why do we permit assault weapons to become part of the American sports shooting scene.
I say weapons because I cannot envision them as hunting rifles or sporting arms. The NRA I thought was originally formed to promote gun safety. Perhaps they have lost their way. How can anybody support a firearm capable of being modified to become a weapon of mass destruction, killing dozens of people with a hail of bullets in mere seconds?
If I had an AR15, I would gladly destroy it on March 14 to show my support for the national movement to ban these weapons.
Perhaps I should go out and buy one strictly for that purpose.
John J. Ruszkiewicz
Lt/Col
US Army, retired