Since the latest school shooting I've heard a chorus of calls for gun bans. Here are my thoughts:
None of the "gun control" proposals that have been put forth nor the former "assault weapon (look alike) ban", would have had any effect on this school carnage. The pistols & the rifle the nut stole from his mother would have been legal under any of these laws. Yes, he had a clip that would have been banned under some proposals but since it only takes a second to change clips, having 3, 10-round clips or one 30-round clip would not have made a damned bit of difference as this nut went on his killing spree.
What stopped the killing spree? He stopped killing others and killed himself when faced with armed opposition.
Yes, many people want to see a "Great Britain" type gun ban in the US. These people are using this tragedy to push their agenda. Any such proposal should be debated on the merits, not passed as an emotional knee-jerk reaction to a senseless tragedy. If we ever get to the point of discussing the merits of such a ban we would have to admit Great Britain's experiment with banning most guns led to skyrocketing violent crime rates including a 700% increase in home invasions.
Whether we should examen our gun laws is a good question, but the facts of THIS carnage do not support tightening gun laws. The facts of this carnage say we need comprehensive, universal, mental health treatment in this country, and they also support the argument that we should have given SOMEONE the chance to take this nut out before he killed 27 people.
Yes, many of us were WRONG when the right blocked President Clinton's Proposal for universal healthcare in this country. That error shows many of us can be fooled by 20-second soundbites paid for by those making obscene amounts of money off the current system. We are not perfect, but we are willing to admit when we were wrong. (Some of us at least.)
The bans most states have on being armed on school property is a failed experiment. Nuts know that's a place they can go and find unarmed victims.
Look back & see what happened when we put air-marshals on a small percentage of flights in the 1960's. Armed hijackings stopped. Look what happened after Reagan killed the air-marshal program because there hadn't been hijackings for over 10 years — we got 9/11. Removing the possibility of armed resistance makes an area a soft target and makes that area inviting to those wishing to make a statement through blood.
Although I am not a member of the NRA, I stand with them now because they are right.
If you agree with these thoughts PLEASE share them. Include them in a letter to the editor of your local paper. Post them on Facebook.
None of the "gun control" proposals that have been put forth nor the former "assault weapon (look alike) ban", would have had any effect on this school carnage. The pistols & the rifle the nut stole from his mother would have been legal under any of these laws. Yes, he had a clip that would have been banned under some proposals but since it only takes a second to change clips, having 3, 10-round clips or one 30-round clip would not have made a damned bit of difference as this nut went on his killing spree.
What stopped the killing spree? He stopped killing others and killed himself when faced with armed opposition.
Yes, many people want to see a "Great Britain" type gun ban in the US. These people are using this tragedy to push their agenda. Any such proposal should be debated on the merits, not passed as an emotional knee-jerk reaction to a senseless tragedy. If we ever get to the point of discussing the merits of such a ban we would have to admit Great Britain's experiment with banning most guns led to skyrocketing violent crime rates including a 700% increase in home invasions.
Whether we should examen our gun laws is a good question, but the facts of THIS carnage do not support tightening gun laws. The facts of this carnage say we need comprehensive, universal, mental health treatment in this country, and they also support the argument that we should have given SOMEONE the chance to take this nut out before he killed 27 people.
Yes, many of us were WRONG when the right blocked President Clinton's Proposal for universal healthcare in this country. That error shows many of us can be fooled by 20-second soundbites paid for by those making obscene amounts of money off the current system. We are not perfect, but we are willing to admit when we were wrong. (Some of us at least.)
The bans most states have on being armed on school property is a failed experiment. Nuts know that's a place they can go and find unarmed victims.
Look back & see what happened when we put air-marshals on a small percentage of flights in the 1960's. Armed hijackings stopped. Look what happened after Reagan killed the air-marshal program because there hadn't been hijackings for over 10 years — we got 9/11. Removing the possibility of armed resistance makes an area a soft target and makes that area inviting to those wishing to make a statement through blood.
Although I am not a member of the NRA, I stand with them now because they are right.
If you agree with these thoughts PLEASE share them. Include them in a letter to the editor of your local paper. Post them on Facebook.
