Have you had enough yet? No? Just how much blood would have to be shed at one time to convince you? How many innocent people have to be dispatched in one brutal action before you decide to do something? Thirty-two wasn't enough? How about forty? One hundred? One thousand? Maybe you'll never be convinced until someone blows a hole in someone you love. Can you picture it? Your wife or mother or husband or father or child laying on the sidewalk with half their head missing? A rather brutal image, isn't it? But that's reality for the families of thirty-two people in Virginia.
So you say you need handguns for protection? Well guess what? If you own a handgun, it's forty times more likely that it will be used kill to a member of your household than it will be used to defend against an intruder. Buy a handgun, have it used against you. Not very protective, is it?
It's a basic constitutional right, you say? Really? The right to bear arms, you say. Excellent. Where's my Cruise Missile? I can't have one, you say? Things like machine guns, hand grenades, F-16 fighters and nuclear weapons are not allowed to the average citizen, and I don't see the NRA arguing in favor of free ownership of these things. Why? They are too dangerous, and we as a people are willing to make that exception to the 2nd amendment for our own safety. Well, handguns are also too dangerous. Ask anyone on the campus of Virginia Tech, or Columbine, or any of these places:
29 Jul 1999 Atlanta, GA, USA 12 killed
16 Oct 1991 Killeen, TX, USA 23 killed
18 Jun 1990 Jacksonville, FL 9 killed
20 Aug 1986 Edmond, OK, USA 14 killed
18 Jul 1984 San Ysidro, CA, USA 21 killed
01 Aug 1966 Austin, TX, USA 16 killed
And that is hardly a complete list.
So what are handguns good for? Self protection? Nope. Hunting? Nope. Killing people? That's pretty much it. I hate to go to Lynyrd Skynyrd for my gun quotes but, people, they ain't no good for nothin' else.
Just ban them, collect them off the streets, send people to long jail sentences for possessing them. If someone wants to go on a killing spree, make them carry a big huge rifle at least four feet long that can't hold more than three rounds. Ever go deer hunting? Nobody ever gets three shots at the same deer, so hunting rifles don't even need to hold three shots. Having a big long weapon with only three rounds won't stop all murders, but it would make it so much harder to kill a lot of people at once. And right now, killing a lot of people is just too easy to do.
Ban handguns. Now. Write, email, harass your members of congress. If they want to shake your hand and garner your vote, make them listen to you first.
Ban handguns. Now.
20 comments:
Totally agree, ban the guns
Canada has a stict gun policy.
This event is outrageous, Bug. There is just so much violence. Sometimes the concept of the reality of humanity is overwhelming.
Bugwit
It is not the guns the problem ... the problem I think is the mind who use the gun ... our mind is so sensitive ... if it is a extremely situations ... every one can be a mourder or suicide ... when the balance are out of control .... somethings like to day can happend again...but I don´t like the guns neither...
TKK: Thank you. I like Canada's gun laws. There are PLENTY of hunters and outdoorsmen in Canada, yet people don't feel compelled to arm themselves like they live in a Quentin Tarantino movie.
Lynn: You just wonder what drives people to such rage. I feel bad for anyone who is so mentally tortured. But I feel worse for the students and their families.
Vilma: Yes, the mind is the root of the problem, which is why we need more access to mental health care in this country. But, you can't outlaw people, so I believe that we make it harder for dangerous minds to acquire dangerous weapons. It's hard to murder 32 people with a kitchen knife.
Thanks for this powerful post, Bug.
I agree.
This tragedy upsets me to the core.
I have chosen not to watch any of it. I heard the report and that is all I know. I'm convinced the world is going crazy. I hate guns, would never own one but that is just me. I'm a lover, not a fighter.
Winters: It seems to be happening more and more frequently. Very sad.
Les: No gunplay for you? Good for you.
You know, it's interesting. When I tell people how I feel about gun laws they assume I have never owned one. The truth is that I grew up around guns. In elementary school, I already had four of them. In Junior High, I was on an NRA competitive shooting team. I spent three years in the army. I used to hunt and I enjoy shooting guns, so I get the whole recreation part of it.
But there's no use for handguns. None.
Omidear GOD, Bug...this is a wonderful wonderful post!
I wish there were some way MORE and MORE and MORE people could read it. Or HAVE to read it! This so needs to be shared and known...
~d heart Bug
I agree with you.
And I hate what's happening in the world.
And that's all I can say.
:(
Well done...horrible day in a world that is becoming more desensitized to such things more and more.
Val: Thanks. Peace.
Jessica: Thanks for dropping by. Too bad your first time here wasn't on a happier occasion. Come back some time when I don't have a case of the ass.
Hey bug, i don't like guns or do i own one, but if we ban guns only the bad guys will have them, and i would like to think if i ever needed one i could get one with out taking it from a bad guy, it is sad that the world has come to such things , sad at all the lost lifes that were at the start of there jorney in life, ban the guns would be nice if you could find a way to stop the bad guys from getting them to..eddie
absolutely, you are spot on. More guns = more deaths. Give them a cheese grater instead. Noone can go on a murderous insane rampage with a cheese grater!
This seems to have angered you as much as it saddened me. Anger, sadness, outrage, disappointment, it does not matter which emotion as long as we can agree on the outcome.
Eddie: I guess I see it this way. Few people carry their guns with them wherever the go, and outside the house is where you're most likely to encounter someone with a gun. Guns at home kill many more family members than bad guys.
But, if the gens are romoved from circulation through a buy-back program and there are long proson sentences for getting cuaght with a gun, I beleive strongly that you'll get a situation like England or other places in Europe where very few gun crimes occur.
M: No, but they could make some nasty raspberries!
Molly: I am angered, because it has gone on too long, and the NRA and gun manufacturers have managed to keep the debate out of the public square. In fact, what Republican mouthpieces like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbuagh are saying is the this proof that we need to RELAX gun laws and EVERYONE should be armed walking down the street. Well, I say it's like that in Baghdad, and look how safe they are!
Here's the thing that makes me mad. It more important to these people that the be able to sell guns than it is to save lives. THe Republicans are more interested in panderng to the NRA and gun nuts than they are in protecting American lives. It's that simple.
Of course, the DEms will be timid on this issue also, for the same reasons.
You have the gift of transposing anger into words. Powerful.
CHicky: Yes, there's much more that I would like to say on this subject. Not really the ideal place for it, but we'll see.
The fights of this world become more and more unfair everyday and guns are part of the problem. I am not of the mind to lay blame on one foot. While it's true that a person must fire the weapon, it is more so that the weapon must first exist.
Well, isn't it interesting that we don't try to prevent nuclear war by giving nukes to every country on earth.
Hell. Why don't we start selling them to anyone who can afford them. Noisy neighbour? Nuke em!
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