In light of the recent events in Newtown, Connecticut, this train of thoughts may hurt some feelings. For that, I am truly sorry.
After the recent Newtown tragedy, there have been many posts on various email/internet outlets. One common thread I see is that many people feel that if there was better gun control this would not have happened. Better gun control. Exactly, what is that?
We have laws that determine the process one must go through in order to legally purchase a firearm. If a person meets the criteria, then he is legally entitled to buy a gun. Anyone with no record, criminal or mental, may qualify to buy a firearm. If he is denied that right, he can rightfully sue for discrimination.
Argument: If we can’t be sure someone is a criminal, or has criminal intent, or might ever have criminal intent in the future, then no one should be allowed to own a gun.
A madman is going to find a way to kill. The answer is not to ban the instrument used. What if he had used a baseball bat? Do we ban all Louisville Sluggers? What if he had used a homemade bomb? Do we ban all sales of moth balls and Drano? We have laws in place to punish people who kill. We should enforce those laws and punish the offenders swiftly and harshly.
The last orange-haired idiot that killed in Colorado should be dead right now. He was not only seen doing the killing but he was disarmed by the police. Why should he have a trial? Now the defense will set him up as abused or mentally unstable or some other something so he should not be accountable. But whether he does have a problem or not should not be the issue. The issue is that he is a danger to society.
Another argument for gun control is, “Why does someone need an AR-15 and 6,000 rounds of ammo? It’s not used for hunting!” Well, the plain simple answer to that question is, “I want it.” I live in America where I am free to buy a gun, if I qualify, and as many rounds of ammo as I want. As long as I do not commit a crime or harm someone by using that weapon and ammo, what’s it to you? I want it, I can afford it and I do it legally, then why should I be denied? You may think it’s excessive but I am not asking you to pay for it. If that is the criteria for excessive, then any collection of anything is excessive.
I am a responsible gun owner and when my guns are not being used, they are locked up and kept safe. Only one other person, my wife, knows how to get to my guns. However, if I am careless and let my guns fall into the possession of someone who murders or accidentally kills another, then I should be held responsible. If I cause the accidental death of another by my hand, then I should be responsible. We have laws that make us responsible. Enforce those.
The shootings in Newtown and Colorado are tragedies. All instances where a person takes a weapon and uses it to kill innocent people are tragedies. But why is it that the shooter/murderer is always depicted as a victim? It is always mental illness, easy access to guns, problems with his mother, parents abused him or some other reason to blame so it is not his fault. If you kill in cold blood, regardless of the reason, you are a menace to society and should be put down.
It’s all news now that the government will be working to “get these guns off of the streets” and “ban the sale of assault rifles”. No one seems to take notice that this kid did not just go out and buy these guns. They were already there. Tell me how stricter gun control laws would have stopped him.
Maybe, just maybe, we should start allowing for teachers or staff to be trained and armed for defense. I know you think it sounds sick and I am sure this will be greeted with calls that I am for sure a gun nut but if there had been one or two weapons available to be used against this murderer, maybe there would have been less deaths.
The reason this tragedy is so different from the others is the ages of the victims. I cannot imagine the terror and horror these defenseless children must have experienced before they died. The ones that lived through this will have to carry this for the rest of their lives. Just the thought of them dying this way haunts me.
Any person that can walk into a group of strangers and start indiscriminately killing is sick, but any person that can do that to a group of kindergarten and elementary age, defenseless children, is just pure evil. I only hope God has a special hell for him.