Another group of people dead and injured. This feels hopeless. It keeps happening and will keep happening. There is no end in sight.
There will be talk of gun control legislation, background checks and my favorite: treatment for mental illness (you know that's a joke if you work in an ER). None of that, even if it passed, would make any difference. We never get around to talking about why this keeps happening in our country. Why are we so obseseed with guns? Why are we as a people so violent?
That is never discussed. We don't want to face who we have become. It seems like if you think about it, most people want guns for protection.To protect our families. From criminals we think are going to break into our houses.
What are the odds someone is going to break in while the family is present? Low. What are the odds you are going to get the gun from the lockbox in time to confront the criminal? L ow. Then there are the people who want to personally carry around guns for protection. I view them as nuts.
So with the odds of us actually needing a gun are low, why the obsession? Is it because we fear each other? That's what it really comes down to. We somehow have been convinced that there are groups of people who are out to get us. They lie in wait, waiting for us vulnerable people so they can rob us, attack us, break in our homes.
There is crime in this country. We all know that. Most of it takes place in poor communities who prey on each other for the most part. Most of crime centers around drug use. Most of it will never touch us. Yet we have this overwhelming fear that consumes us to the point where there are enough guns in the country to provide every person with their own gun.
There is a lot of profit to be made off of all this fear. Gun manufacturers make billions every year. They make money off of our fear of each other and reinforce it. They use the NRA to keep the profit going. They point to the Constitution to justify their money grubbing. We as a society suck it up. I don't see it changing anytime soon
I carry a gun for the same reason I carry a first aid kit, and keep a fire extinguisher in my kitchen. Odds of my kitchen catching on fire? Low. Odds of being assaulted? Also low. But either way, I like to have tools at hand that allow me to act effectively.
ReplyDeleteI oppose increased gun control because the proposed legal changes would at best mildly inconvenience criminals, while greatly burdening those who attempt to follow the law.
Mass shootings only end when a "good guy with a gun" shows up - in this case, the police. However, if someone in that first classroom had also been armed, there may have been far fewer people murdered today.
19 years ago, after another mass shooting, Australia passed strict gun laws banning most automatic and semi-automatic weapons. If you'd like to know the result of this logical, intelligent and brave law read this article:
ReplyDeletehttp://mic.com/articles/123049/19-years-after-passing-strict-gun-control-laws-here-s-what-happened-in-australia
Of course Australia did not have the NRA and their interpretation of the 2nd amendment. For those NRA members and libertarians I have 1 question: What well regulated militia did this last shooter belong to?
Lets regulate the ammunition if we can't regulate the guns.
Sorry but your need to personally carry a gun around all the time, to me, is a sign you have manhood issues.
ReplyDeleteTPS- Tiny Penis Syndrome.
ReplyDeleteNo need to turn to personal attacks if you have a decent argument. What regulatory changes are you proposing, exactly?
ReplyDeleteOregon already has universal background checks. Assault weapons ban is a silly idea, since the average hunting rifle has equal or superior ballistic performance as an AR-15 (The stereotypical "Scary Black Rifle").
Or are you planning on going full-on, and want widespread gun confiscation? That would involve tens of thousands of men with guns kicking down doors of families who have harmed no one. Not the kind of country I think any of us want to live in.
Honestly I think this country is a lost cause when it comes to the gun issue.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the answer is everybody is issued two guns which they are required to wear in holsters on their sides at all times Ala the old west. There would be an option to sling an automatic weapon across your back. You never know when you might have to take out more than one person.
Then we can kill each other off left and right.
I am hopeless about this. We as a country have so much fear of each other and are so brainwashed, we are doomed to fail.
The country is pretty likely to remain its current almost 50/50 split on gun rights. It will also probably remain a largely urban/rural split.
ReplyDeleteHowever, violent crime is at its lowest since the 60's.
What we're doing now is working just fine. In the meantime, concealed carriers have a crime rate significantly lower than the average public (and some studies show a lower crime rate than police officers). We have gone from eight states having shall-issue concealed carry permits in 1986 to 42 having shall-issue permits or no permit required at all (link). In the meantime, the crime rate has continued a steady decline.
So no need to feel hopeless, and no need to fear. Focus on living your own life, and don't worry about what is in other people's pants. The hysteria over gun crime is much more a product of the mass media than a true problem.
If an off duty police officer pulls out his gun and shoots a would be offender before he can cause serious harm, the public applauds his bravery and ability. If a citizen does the same with his concealed carry gun, you would condemn him? makes no sense. Gun laws in general only impact the law- abiding citizen, not the criminal. We can't legislate the crazies away, but we can try to minimize their impact. I'd carry in the hospital if it didn't get me fired.
ReplyDeleteRegarding " We can't legislate the crazies away"
ReplyDeleteAnyone can be "crazy". Crazy = angry and stupid at the same time.
and "laws in general only impact the law- abiding citizen" this is circular logic. If a person is a criminal they are in jail doing their sentence. If a person is free to walk the streets, they are not a criminal/or have served their punishment.
Most of these shooting have been from very angry people. The crazy person is the person whose toaster tells them about fairies in the garden, or something that does not make sense. The killing was planned. Planned = intent = criminal.
I know it is true, not because I work in an ER, but because I suffer from Major Depression. Health care for the mentally ill is a total and complete joke. We are literally treated as second class citizens and criminals. It is in-humane!
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ReplyDeleteis a sign you have manhood issues.http://www.afu.ac.ae/en/briefed-academic-calendar/
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