I think the most brilliant thing you said here was the reminder that controlling guns and banning guns are entirely different things. I hate guns. Hate. I can foresee virtually no circumstance in my life that could even POSSIBLY occur that would convince me to purchase a gun. However, despite the incredible moronic nonsense on Facebook that might lead me to believe otherwise, there are some rational, valid reasons that others might choose to own one. But calling for more gun control would not impinge on the large majority of law-abiding gun-owning people. It would only serve to save lives. Owning a gun is still not my cup of tea...and I personally would be comfortable with a full gun ban. But I can see why others disagree with me there and I respect the fact we can have valid differences of opinions on the subject without either one of us thinking the other one is crazy or evil. What I don't understand is why ANYONE (pro-gun or not) is so open to mass availability of the things and such loose regulation of assault weapons. It's one thing to enjoy hunting (a sport I personally don't understand -- but who am I to judge or prevent someone else from participating?) or carry a concealed weapon. It's another to actively prevent legislation that would keep these weapons out of the hands of the dangerous and cut down on the trafficking of the weapons that do the most damage in terms of human lives.
My jobs the past two years have allowed me access to every single one of the violent cases that ends up on appeal in a very red state with a high percentage of gun ownership. I never took a scientific tally, but guns were actually not the weapon involved in most instances. Knives, baseball bats, and some good old fashioned wife beating with fists seemed to account for most of the deaths. But the percentage of cases involving guns was still a significant percentage. Even if it's not the main force of violence in our country, it's still one that needs to be dealt with. And soon.
Senseless violence will always happen. And tragically it often involves kids. Dec. 14th also saw a man walking into school on the other side of the world and attacking children as young as 6 with a knife. Twenty-three people were critically injured. The sick and twisted in our society don't require guns to do damage. But just because all crimes, or even the majority of violent crimes in our country or abroad, don't involve guns is no reason not to do what we can to stop those crimes that do through some common sense gun control. It wouldn't take much besides a little political will.
Sorry for rambling. I really liked this post and your responses to many of the most ridiculous arguments by the "guns for everyone!!" crowd.
I think the most brilliant thing you said here was the reminder that controlling guns and banning guns are entirely different things. I hate guns. Hate. I can foresee virtually no circumstance in my life that could even POSSIBLY occur that would convince me to purchase a gun. However, despite the incredible moronic nonsense on Facebook that might lead me to believe otherwise, there are some rational, valid reasons that others might choose to own one. But calling for more gun control would not impinge on the large majority of law-abiding gun-owning people. It would only serve to save lives. Owning a gun is still not my cup of tea...and I personally would be comfortable with a full gun ban. But I can see why others disagree with me there and I respect the fact we can have valid differences of opinions on the subject without either one of us thinking the other one is crazy or evil. What I don't understand is why ANYONE (pro-gun or not) is so open to mass availability of the things and such loose regulation of assault weapons. It's one thing to enjoy hunting (a sport I personally don't understand -- but who am I to judge or prevent someone else from participating?) or carry a concealed weapon. It's another to actively prevent legislation that would keep these weapons out of the hands of the dangerous and cut down on the trafficking of the weapons that do the most damage in terms of human lives.
ReplyDeleteMy jobs the past two years have allowed me access to every single one of the violent cases that ends up on appeal in a very red state with a high percentage of gun ownership. I never took a scientific tally, but guns were actually not the weapon involved in most instances. Knives, baseball bats, and some good old fashioned wife beating with fists seemed to account for most of the deaths. But the percentage of cases involving guns was still a significant percentage. Even if it's not the main force of violence in our country, it's still one that needs to be dealt with. And soon.
Senseless violence will always happen. And tragically it often involves kids. Dec. 14th also saw a man walking into school on the other side of the world and attacking children as young as 6 with a knife. Twenty-three people were critically injured. The sick and twisted in our society don't require guns to do damage. But just because all crimes, or even the majority of violent crimes in our country or abroad, don't involve guns is no reason not to do what we can to stop those crimes that do through some common sense gun control. It wouldn't take much besides a little political will.
Sorry for rambling. I really liked this post and your responses to many of the most ridiculous arguments by the "guns for everyone!!" crowd.