Wednesday, December 19, 2012

So this is Christmas, and what have you done?


War is over .. if you want it.


I've been trying to bend my mind around the Newtown tragedy. We have relatives in that area, and it is just heartbreaking to know there are so many presents underneath a tree that will never be opened, and lives that will never be lived the way they were supposed to be lived.

I know people that are big time gun aficionados and some that are extremely anti-gun. I fall somewhere in the middle, but there just HAS to be something done that can satisfy both sides and stop innocent people from being in harm's way. The way violence is ingrained into our society is alarming at best, and I wonder if THIS is the final straw that gets people talking about responsible and TRUE control of our arsenal of weaponry. I thought that "The person with the bigger gun, bomb, etc .. wins" mentality went out with the end of the cold war, but it still persists. The rest of the world must wonder why these things continue to happen ... as do I.

I NEVER want to hear about something like this ever happening again. That is MY Christmas wish.

"War is over .. if you want it." Words of wisdom from a man who had his life taken away from him by a gun. "Nothing to kill or die for ... Imagine all the people living life in peace." It really shouldn't be so fucking hard to imagine that, right?



4 comments:

  1. WOW, riveting, and so so true. Why cant we just become who we are meant to be with no worries, no hate. I have to admit i have thought death would be easier then living like i do.
    PEACE AND LOVE TO ALL NO MATTER GENDER, SEX, RACE, NATIONALITY OR BELIEFS.

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  2. Very emotionally charged cap there Dee.

    Like you, I'm trying to get my mind around the tragedy. I wish there was an easy way to prevent this from every happening again, but I honestly don't know a way to do it without trampling all over gun rights. Banning some weapons? Banning certain clip sizes? These steps might make some people feel better, but it won't prevent such disasters. I'd even go further and say that half measures like this aren't only ineffective, but bad policy. The only way to prevent future mass shootings like this is to not only ban ALL guns, but to remove the estimated 200 MILLION privately owned guns.

    That's not going to happen.

    Don't get me wrong, I do support sensible gun regulation. Background checks for ALL gun sales? Yes please. Licensing ALL guns? Yes. Require a license to buy ammunition? Sounds perfectly reasonable. Gun ownership may be a right, but that doesn't mean it should be easy. I'd be willing to jump through all of these hoops so that I can buy any weapon I want, take to the range, and shoot targets. I like to shoot hand guns of various calibers (.22, 9mm, .45, 50 cal), shotguns (pump, auto loading, and even automatic), 'assault' weapons (ar-15 and such), and long range rifles (Remington 700 and other 'sniper' style weapons). Every gun has it's own characteristic, and requires its own skill set to shoot well. I would even LIKE to target shoot with fully automatic weapons as doing so consistently is even more difficult.

    It's understandable that people want to ban weapons after such a tragedy. That's human nature. But do we ban cars when they're used to maliciously kill people? Do we ban fertilizer and diesel fuel when they're used to make bombs. Do we ban planes when they're used as weapons? Of course not. All of those items are used by people responsibly, and it would be thought of as draconian to take these tools away from people who don't abuse them. The same should be true of guns.

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    Replies
    1. I've made various arguments for and against, and its not something I want to get into on TG blog other than to say that I'm sure there is a happy medium somewhere in the middle.

      I just figured that if they can throw out my shampoo at an airport because its a tad bit too whatever, or examine my shoes and frisk 80 year old nuns, then we can find some way to stem the tide of gun violence without people getting too upset.

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    2. Sorry about that. I know this isn't the place for such discussion... I just get carried away on this topic. I think we can both agree that something needs to be done, and hope that something meaningful DOES get done.

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