Gun-Controlled
I'm not sure where I sit on the fence of gun control, but the next time you see one of them fire by itself, let me know.
I'm all for folks being able to defend themselves, lawfully -- even if the notion of having a firearm in the house scares the bejeebers out of me. But the Constitution says we can possess them. Only 200 years later and some change did we add some things about needing to prove that you weren't insane, etc. before you were allowed to purchase one.
Somehow a whole bunch of crazies, though, seem to have guns these days.
A family gunned down by an estranged husband of one of the victims. A quartet of Oakland police officers, two of them SWAT, riddled with bullets by an ex-con with an assault weapon. Three of them dead, a fourth feared brain dead. Another family wiped out by its patriarch, despondent over finances.
And that was just last week.
What in the name of Chuck Heston is going on around here?
Not that it would be more tolerable if these shooters were armed merely with pistols that hold six shots, but what's even more stupefying is the degree of ammunition that these gun-toters are coming equipped with. They're not showing up to pick off a few folks; they arrive as their own army.
You've heard it so often it's becoming blase.
"The shooter, police say, came armed with enough ammunition to take out dozens of people," or something like it, is uttered on television by the somber-looking news head. Then it's described of how more guns and more bullets were found, either on the shooter or in his car or at his house. Dozens of rounds; several guns.
If these people are simply looking to defend their castle, as put forth by our forefathers (and it's debatable about what they REALLY meant), then they must be expecting it to be overrun by Attila and the Huns. Or the Magnificent Seven.
The troubling thing, when you hear and read of these occurrences -- in the good, old U.S. of A. -- is that you know that there's another one, somewhere around the corner. And we'll forget about the massacred family, gunned down by the father and husband with enough firepower to take down a crowded movie theater. We'll forget about the doomed trio of cops in Oakland, who, despite their own weaponry, didn't stand a chance against the heavily-armed, desperate man who panicked after a "routine" traffic stop.
Until next time.
Until the next intersecting of desperation, anger, and gun access.
You see, the issue isn't, anymore, whether we as Americans should have guns to protect ourselves from the criminal elements of our society. We seem to have moved beyond that reason for owning such over-the-top amounts of hardware and ammo.
Defending our castles is soooo 20th century. Today it's all about taking the war on the road. We got tired of waiting for someone to attack our homes; there wasn't enough satisfaction, or money, in that.
After all, you never know when you might have to slaughter your family, or shoot up your workplace, or terrorize a college campus. And when that need arises, by God, you'll be ready.
Good thing you didn't start to go crazy until AFTER you passed your background check!
Gun laws: can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Hence my fence-sitting.
I'm all for folks being able to defend themselves, lawfully -- even if the notion of having a firearm in the house scares the bejeebers out of me. But the Constitution says we can possess them. Only 200 years later and some change did we add some things about needing to prove that you weren't insane, etc. before you were allowed to purchase one.
Somehow a whole bunch of crazies, though, seem to have guns these days.
A family gunned down by an estranged husband of one of the victims. A quartet of Oakland police officers, two of them SWAT, riddled with bullets by an ex-con with an assault weapon. Three of them dead, a fourth feared brain dead. Another family wiped out by its patriarch, despondent over finances.
And that was just last week.
What in the name of Chuck Heston is going on around here?
Not that it would be more tolerable if these shooters were armed merely with pistols that hold six shots, but what's even more stupefying is the degree of ammunition that these gun-toters are coming equipped with. They're not showing up to pick off a few folks; they arrive as their own army.
You've heard it so often it's becoming blase.
"The shooter, police say, came armed with enough ammunition to take out dozens of people," or something like it, is uttered on television by the somber-looking news head. Then it's described of how more guns and more bullets were found, either on the shooter or in his car or at his house. Dozens of rounds; several guns.
If these people are simply looking to defend their castle, as put forth by our forefathers (and it's debatable about what they REALLY meant), then they must be expecting it to be overrun by Attila and the Huns. Or the Magnificent Seven.
The troubling thing, when you hear and read of these occurrences -- in the good, old U.S. of A. -- is that you know that there's another one, somewhere around the corner. And we'll forget about the massacred family, gunned down by the father and husband with enough firepower to take down a crowded movie theater. We'll forget about the doomed trio of cops in Oakland, who, despite their own weaponry, didn't stand a chance against the heavily-armed, desperate man who panicked after a "routine" traffic stop.
Until next time.
Until the next intersecting of desperation, anger, and gun access.
You see, the issue isn't, anymore, whether we as Americans should have guns to protect ourselves from the criminal elements of our society. We seem to have moved beyond that reason for owning such over-the-top amounts of hardware and ammo.
Defending our castles is soooo 20th century. Today it's all about taking the war on the road. We got tired of waiting for someone to attack our homes; there wasn't enough satisfaction, or money, in that.
After all, you never know when you might have to slaughter your family, or shoot up your workplace, or terrorize a college campus. And when that need arises, by God, you'll be ready.
Good thing you didn't start to go crazy until AFTER you passed your background check!
Gun laws: can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Hence my fence-sitting.
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