The strange thing is that I didn't feel much during the recent murders at Virginia Polytechnic. This is the society that everyone wanted — full of handguns and emotionally disturbed people. When you mix those elements together, you get horrible violence.But I suppose that's what Americans want. So many people say, "Take away our handguns and only criminals will have guns." Well, many criminals STEAL their guns from legitimate owners. And many people get blown away by accidents, domestic rage, etc... So, when you add it all up, I wonder just how many lives are SAVED by making handguns easily accessible to the public.
So, according to today's newspaper, 16,400 people were murdered in the U.S. in 2005. The U.S. fatalities in Iraq are about to hit 4,000 deaths in nearly five years. But in the U.S., that's about how many people are murdered every four months -- most by guns.
Now, I'm not an extremist. I only want to outlaw all handguns, and not hunting or target rifles. And I want to make it harder for people to purchase a rifle.
I am amazed at the obsession people have with "gun rights." In addition to protecting themselves from criminals, folks also say handguns are necessary to protect themselves from their own government.
The funny thing is that the individuals who are the loudest gun rights advocates are typically conservative religious types. How people can reconcile guns and violence with Christianity is beyond me. Jesus said "turn the other cheek" not "reload your weapon." I suppose someone is going to say that Christians have a right to protect themselves. Whatever happened to the humble act of serving as lion food, like in the days of Ancient Rome? How about those Roman soldiers who accepted Christianity, denounced violence, and were executed for their beliefs? Don't believe me, read "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbons.
The bottom line is that the United States is a violent nation, and, obviously, many citizens and political leaders like it that way. We live in a country full of rage and hate and mentally sick people, and handguns are everywhere. This is the perfect formula for, well, lots of violence. Yeah, it's weird.
1 comment:
Cars, like guns, are often stolen, and can be used to kill people by running them over. They have perfectly legitimate uses, though, just like all guns - including handguns - so why are guns so horrible?
Anyway, I can debate for hours about guns anc crime, but for me, it's much simpler than that: as a libertarian, I believe that every human being has the right to do whatever they want, so long as it doesn't infringe upon the rights of another person. My .22 is an inanimate object, incapable of being used to harm someone unless someone who intends to harm someone uses it - it's prefectly safe in my hands. As such, there is no need to restrict it any more than a Ginsu knife or toy submarine.
Post a Comment