There are still very heated debates on mass killing, gun control as well as any number of conspiracies based on either or both of those topics.
I decided it might be time to put in my thoughts on the subject.
Gun Control
Have a firm grip, but not too tight, use your sights and squeeze the trigger slowly.
Well, I've never had a single gun lesson in my life but I bet I could use one without shooting myself. You can't really control guns or even totally
control the people who buy them. The only real way to deal with the issue of guns is to simply stop making them. Although not reliable and I don't
know if anyone has ever made a working one, with the introduction of 3-D printers, anyone can make a gun. We can ban all the guns we want, if someone
wants an illegal gun bad enough, they will find a way to get one.
Responsibility
Should gun owners be responsible for any damage done by a gun they own. I feel they should. In some states, bartenders are held liable for anything
done by a drunk driver that got drunk at their bar. So I feel that gun owners should be responsible if they allow their guns to be used by someone
other than them. If you own a gun you should take steps to be sure that you're the only one that can use it. Sure, some will argue that if you have a
gun locked up and someone breaks into your house, the amount of time it takes you to get the gun out could be the difference between life and death.
If your concerned about a break in during the day when your awake, wear the gun, else you might as well have it locked safely somewhere. If your
concerned about a break-in at night when your asleep, try a simple lock box. Or, here is a link to what I feel is the smart way to go.
en.wikipedia.org...
Weapons
When I was in High School a friend an I fashioned small weapon replicas of ones found around the middle ages. We hung them in our lockers for show and
we both thought they looked cool especially when we had mock fights. These things weren't generally bigger than my hand. Still, we were asked to
remove them and take them home. Recently I thought, what if we didn't have guns at all? There's no doubt that we would simply have fashioned another
weapon that is just as bad. What about bombs? They can be made from stuff found in a hardware store and you won't have to wait 90 days. What about
chemical warfare? Heck, given enough time I'm sure someone walking into a crowd with a sword could do quite a bit of damage. I'm sure somewhere in
these forums someone has listed statistics on how much damage weapons other than guns can do.
Build your own military....
Ultimately the U.S.A. came into being because a group of people wanted to escape an oppressive government. They also recognized how easy it would be
for any government to stop representing the interests of the people and begin focusing on it's own interests. They wanted to be sure that all
Americans could be prepared to overthrow their own government should it become oppressive. If you look at the size of the current US military it would
certainly be a feat to overcome the government with a few pistols, some crossbows and swords. That was the intention of giving Americans the right to
bear arms. The problem is that some people will get weapons for the purpose of inflicting harm on people and not for rising up against an oppressive
government. For this reason I feel that continued use of gun licensing and waiting periods is still a smart move. Sure, it won't keep the guns out of
the hands of all criminals but it might keep it out of the hands of some and even a few is better than none.
Bears...
Those poor bears. They never had a chance against a group of hunters carrying assault rifles. Neither did the trees on either side of him, or the
small squirrel and every other living creature in a 20 foot swath surrounding a now dead bear. I'm sure some people might find this an exciting
experience but lets not kid ourselves, many guns just weren't meant for hunting animals.
OH MY!
Every time something goes boom and the news outlets spread it all over the world, someone gets angry and people start crying out for justice, revenge,
or anything to make things right again. Some day these discussions will slip quietly into the background as the world goes on to worry about other
things. There will still be dead to bury and people to mourn. So let's not forget that any tragedy has victims and not all of them died. It's
people that cause it, not the weapons they hold. If it wasn't a gun, it would have been something else. If it wasn't today, then maybe years later
in a bigger crowd. Some events aren't fair but there is nothing that will ever return things to normal.
nb:honestly, sometimes I have something to say and I'm never really sure if I've found the right place to post it, so forgive me if this belongs
somewhere else.