ALL Violence Sucks

In an email sent to me several weeks ago, a woman asked why I was what she termed “pro-guns.”  It got me thinking…

I’m not “pro-gun”….I’m pro-freedom.  The difference is that I don’t think everyone should own a gun, but that those who want to own a gun should have the right to do so.  I believe in the Right to Bear Arms.

As I’ve stated in previous blogs, with what feels like ever-growing violence in our world, perhaps certain restrictions on gun ownership makes sense.  I don’t pretend to have any answers as to what restrictions would be appropriate, other than the fact that I don’t believe anyone outside of our military personnel needs to own an automatic assault weapon.  No one needs to have the ability to rapidly gun down innocent bystanders in theatres, schools or anywhere else.

Gun violence sucks…but the truth is ALL violence sucks.

Last week in England a British soldier was hacked to death with a machete in the middle of the street.  A couple weeks ago an Oregon high school student was arrested because he constructed his own bombs and had plans to blow up his school.  Last year a little girl named Jessica was kidnapped and murdered with a knife.  Every month, women and children are removed from their homes and placed in shelters because they are abused by their boyfriends, husbands, fathers, uncles, brothers, etc.  Years ago, a woman intentionally ran over her husband several times with her car.  Sadly, I could cite example after example…

The truth is violence begins in the heart.  A gun is as useless as a knife, a machete, a bomb, a car and a fist if there is no violence and hatred in the heart of the person holding it.  Guns are taking a bad rap right now, but they are merely a symptom of the real problem.  Hatred and insanity drive violent acts.

Hatred causes a person to plan to kill innocent people.  Insanity causes a person to slaughter children.  The weapon isn’t to blame, the people are to blame. 

If we remove every gun from the planet, do you believe murder will cease to exist?  Murder existed long before guns were ever invented.  Killing comes from the heart and a killer will use whatever weapon is at his or her disposal if he really wants to carry out a violent plan. 

In the olden days people were burned at the stake, stoned to death, hung and poisoned.  Should we outlaw matches, rope and rocks?

On the flip side, I state again, I don’t believe anyone outside of our military personnel should have access to automatic assault weapons.  Until we can identify and control “crazy” these weapons should not be mainstream.  Until we can rid our world of hate, everything and anything can be a weapon of violence.

I’m not “pro-gun”…I’m pro-freedom and pro-love…because only love can change the world and until it changes, no one is truly safe.  Why then should I sacrifice my right to bear arms to protect myself and my family when the violent, hate-filled hearts of the criminally insane are still rampant among us?  That’s a risk I cannot take. 

 

See, guns take lives but they also save lives.  ~

 

Armed Good Guys (at least) Have a Shot

I’ve read countless Facebook posts about gun control and how guns are to blame for the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy.

This statement is not entirely correct.

Yes, guns were used, but people are to blame.  In this case, a mentally disturbed individual is to blame. I can own one hundred guns, but if I never load one and fire it at someone, then those guns never kill. 

That being said…. Should we institute some form of gun control.  Yes.  But we need to make certain it is not in violation of our overall right to bear arms.  It’s a fine line, but it is an important line and should not be crossed.

People have quoted statistics about how the United States has the highest rate of gun-related deaths each year.  I would like to know how many of those deaths are due to genuine accidents and how many were caused by un-registered, un-licensed gang-type behavior. 

See, Americans who are licensed gun carriers are not the ones killing people.  Americans who own guns to protect themselves and their families are not the ones walking into schools and murdering children.

If we take away our right to bear arms as a nation, it only affects the law-abiding citizens and those aren’t the people who are killing others. The “bad” guys are still going to get guns, whether there is a law against it or not. 

Drugs are illegal, and yet look at the number of meth, crack, heroin and cocaine users in our nation.  It is the same with guns.  “Bad” people are going to do bad things no matter what laws we have in place.  What we CAN do is make it harder for them to do bad things…

Should we make it more difficult to purchase a gun?  Sure.  Should we institute harsher punishments on those caught with un-registered, un-licensed guns?  Sure.  But punishing legal gun owners who have not and most likely will never use their gun to commit a crime is only causing greater problems.

A greater debate is do we arm more “good” people in order to better be able to stop the “bad” people.  I don’t know.  But, had the Principal or the Counselor or one of those teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary been a concealed, licensed carrier, maybe they would have been able to get to their gun and maybe they would have been able to take the man down before he reached any classrooms.

I don’t know the answer… but I believe, in today’s world, arming teachers so they can at least have a fair shot at protecting our children is no longer an idea I would frown upon.  Having an armed guard at our schools is no longer unfathomable. 

Look at the two signs above.  Now, pretend you're a deranged individual who gets the idea to go into a school and kill people.  Which sign has a better chance at making you stop and re-think your plan?

Let’s face it, parents of all of the children in all of the schools across our nation watched the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in horror; and if one of us could have picked up a gun and ended the disaster by killing the shooter we’d have done it in a heartbeat.  Any one of us would have fired that shot and taken him out to protect our kids; but we can’t fire a shot with a gun we don’t own.

Unarmed good guys can’t stop an armed bad guy…. but armed good guys have a shot.  ~