Sunday, July 22, 2012

Banning guns won't resolve the problem . . .

The liberal faction loses no opportunity to opt for gun control and the recent shooting in Colorado is no exception. Their feeling is that it wouldn't have happened if we had gun laws that kept weapons out of the hands of ordinary citizens. That does go against our rights but this hasn't stopped the current administration on other scores so I imagine we may face arbitrary bans on our rights to bear arms in the future. The problem with restricting weapons is that it is the intelligent, law-abiding citizen who loses protection. Anyone who wants a gun with eyes on destruction and killing, will find a way to get a gun. Meanwhile, the citizens are at the mercy of the murderers and the government.

Recently, a 71-year old man in Florida saved the people in a  restaurant because he had a gun and took on the gun waving intruders. This got press on only one major station. The guy was a hero yet the fact that he had to use a gun was the source of the contention. If you research the countries that have strong gun control laws, you may find that it hasn't reduced crime.

The argument, however, is that suppressing gun ownership will prevent massive attacks as happened in Colorado. Anyone remember the Oklahoma bombings? No guns involved there! The killers used ordinary items that anyone can obtain.  The death toll in Okalahoma was 168 with 680 wounded. The Unibomber was into homemade bombs, no guns in the mix.

I remember a mom telling us that even though she never allowed play guns into her home, her boys always managed to play cops and robbers with the traditional 'hand gun' - index finger extended to represent the barrel of the 'weapon' and lots of shooting noises. Banning play guns didn't work.

It is interesting to wonder how this will all eventually play out. Okay, guns are banned so people use homemade bombs. Simple household cleaners, etc., are banned to prevent bombmaking so bad guys used hunting knives. Great, now no more hunting knives without a strict license. No problem, kitchen knives will do the job just fine. Well, we will have to have ground meat and everything presliced to eliminate this problem. Evil hearts go for the screwdriver and hammer as the weapon of choice. Now, we have to make it mandatory that any household repairs will have to employ professionals who have been trained in the handling of screwdrivers, etc.

My husband once read about some Pacific island that was going through some turmoil so the little government banned guns. Even out in the middle of the vast expanse of ocean, guns got on the island. Perhaps, it is time to look to the individuals and not make mass decisions based on the acts of a few.

Naturally, our hearts go out to the recent victims. No one person in civilized times needed the weaspons this guy employed. Restricting war-like weapons is a good idea. Taking away a person's right to carry a regular type one is not. A lot of people were probably saved by the 71 year old guy who had a gun in that restaurant.

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