The subject of some form of gun control always seems to come up after a tragedy like Newtown. Remember the Aurora theatre, Gabby Giffords, Columbine and others? Each one brought some measure of heightened awareness regarding guns and the lunatics who possessed them.
Newtown was an awful tragedy, made worse and more shocking by the fact that it was so. many. children. The faces of the innocent youth cut down by this deranged kid with an arsenal, were plastered all over the internet, news, and newspapers. By any definition it was a real-life horror story.
The first reaction, beyond the horrific, was the groundswell movement to do something, anything about access to weapons. "If only we could control the guns better." The parents and relatives of those who died that day surely want every gun buried at the bottom of the sea. So this will "never happen again". The President and VP jumped right out in the lead of this speeding train. Obama is declaring that some kind crusade against gun violence must take place. Biden, I don't know what he exactly wants to do. But damn it, SOMETHING must be done right NOW!!!
The NRA will be up in arms (figuratively) as they always are when the whispers turn to shouts for gun control. They will wave the second amendment like a flag and defend our right to bear arms. How ever you interpret the Amendment II (and I like and agree with Lee's assessment) guns are not going away.
And they are not the problem. The old worn adage of, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" is for better or worse, pretty damn accurate.
Whatever the President and his political brethren are spouting is only for the benefit of the politicos and the outraged citizenry (psychologically). It will have little to no effect in stopping the next neo-Nazi or bullied teenager, or even a teacher pushed too far, from taking up weapons and descending on the once safe haven of the School. Elementary...High...or College. It is after all the easiest and least protected place where a vast group of ordinary and young people gather. Maybe that is where we should start?
Sadly what happened in Newtown only raised the bar in the minds of the twisted, for this type of tragedy. The next one (and there will be an next one, I'm sorry) will go for a larger more spectacular body count. Or maybe it won't be guns this time. Maybe it will be homemade bombs. How do you stop that? Anyone who has watched Fight Club now knows by mixing equal parts gasoline and orange juice concentrate you can make a passable napalm concoction. How will we legislate against that type of threat?
The problem is deeper than guns or weapons of any kind. The fundamental problem is the youth of the nation. And has been for some time now. Violent video games? Maybe. Choose a side on that debate. Bullying in school? Certainly a problem that has resulted in suicides and ah...school shootings. And this fundamental problem would require a whole other post or maybe even a series of posts. It is a many layered onion.
So to those in power I say, get real. Stop pandering to the emotions of people who are in a highly agitated state of mind. Willing to grasp a straw of a solution no matter how absurd. Limiting the number of rounds in a magazine, really? How stupid do you think we are? That is an idiotic idea if that is what is being proposed to "stop this type of thing from happening". Banning assault rifle sales. If this had been in effect 10 years ago do you really believe none of these tragedies would have occurred? If so, you already drank the Kool-Aid or took the blue pill. It would not have changed a damn thing. It was the mind not the method, that caused these acts. Just like a river that seeks the path of least resistance, these would have been easily navigable obstacles.
Banning weapons seems like an easy rallying cry but in the end when cooler heads prevail, it is not the problem solver we would like. And what does "banning" really mean anyway?? Somebody in Congress or the Senate please define that to my satisfaction. Just as a side note...you do know in China about the same time as the Newtown tragedy that a wacko attacked school kids using knives, right?
Now I am no weapons expert but if someone with only a knife could stab/slash 23 victims AND get away...how would any measure of gun control have prevented this from happening?
I own 2 handguns, a hunting rifle (never hunted with it) and a shotgun. I have ammo for all of them. With no children in the house, they are stored easily accessible but not in the open. My wife could only find the handguns if she needed to in a hurry. We are adult, responsible, and realistic. I feel better with my gun in the nightstand. I have shot it at the range many times. I have no doubt if my life or my wife's life were threatened that I could use it.
oh, and none of my guns have gotten up in the middle of the night and gone on a killing spree.
Your thoughts?
10 comments:
Come on, think!!!!! What came first, the chicken or the egg?
It's too late to ban guns and as you pointed out, that really wouldn't make a difference anymore. Gun control was even more lax forty-fifty years ago, and yet we had far less killings. There is something wrong with the people, not the guns.
Manzanita: Very cryptic.
Alex: Something is way wrong with people...and some of those people should not be having children.
As for the 'far less killings' that Alex pointed out, well, if you take into consideration the population that it is today and compare the population 40-50 years ago, it's still quite the same...just not mass murders. As you stated it's the mind, not the weapon of choice. Perhaps it's partially to blame the videos and movies and peer pressure and even the medications that these so called doctors put them on...the unstable minds...and yet, those meds are just to make them perform as WE see normal and most always the side effects are suicidal, murder, etc. And if you keep up with the news afterward, when the trials begin, the medications are always in the line-up. I've worked with psychotic behavior patients, and 90% of the time, the meds only do so much, the thoughts and actions are compounded. Seriously.
But, Chuck, I am a citizen of America, no........the world, and I whole heartedly agree, GUN Control is not the answer.
Good points, Chuck, and I agree with you for the most part. We're having discussions at our school as to whether we should have an armed guard on campus -- or arm the teachers. Crazy times...
Anni: I didn't even want to get into the subject of turning our youth in zombies by medicating them. But you are right about it.
Milo: Something along those lines is evitable. We can only hope that whatever the plan, it be thought out completely.
You all are so right. There is definitely something wrong with the people! Why is that? Is it drug- damaged minds? Or something else?
Monti
Monti: The subject is pretty broad and drugs (ironically legal more than illegal) I believe play a bigger part than most people know. I am sure I will have posts on this in the future.
Good response. I'm going to link to this in my Monday post.
You bring up some of the "people problems" that I will be addressing in future posts.
Thanks for helping to perpetuate awareness.
Lee
Tossing It Out
Mr. Bird has posted a second blog with links to other blogs, including yours. I think it is obvious to everyone that GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE and yet this administration is still pushing pretty harder for *something.* And the more they push for what they already have (people cannot buy assault weapons), already have to undergo background checks, we get into talks about semi-automatics and magazines. Well, just about every handgun is semi-automatic as are most rifles.
That would mean pretty much a ban on everything currently being sold. We are talking going back in time to single shot loaders. Since you are a gun owner who has fired a weapon at the range, just imagine how skilled you would need to be against a criminal who entered your house, and who still had his semi-automatic weapon... While you had a single shot loader... That shot absolutely must count and he better be alone.
No, guns aren't going anywhere, but it could still be ugly. Arlee talked about PARITY. If the criminals are the only ones with semi-automatics, there is none.
Listening to these politicos go on and on about this makes me ill. The problem isn't guns at all. They need to move on to the real problem: mental health, family dysfunction, uber-violent video games, and the list goes on. It is all that stuff going on people's heads and how it got there. You start dealing with THAT and you will get somewhere.
Dismantling The Bill of Rights isn't going to make anyone safer.
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