So once again some completely insane person has decided to end his life and in the process take as many other innocent lives as he can. Children have been slaughtered in a place where they should feel and be safe. The world looks on in horror as the death toll is tallied and wonders exactly what the fuck is wrong with America.
And as usual, many people are blaming the tool not the person. Commentators are crying for more gun control. They ignore the thousands of responsible gun owners in the country who have never gone on a killing spree or committed any violent gun crime. They ignore the fact that any person who would commit such a horrible crime would find a way to do it no matter what. They preach, "Take away the guns and the killing will stop."
Let me hit you with some factoids:
" According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 32,885 people died in traffic crashes in 2010 in the United States (latest figures available), including an estimated 10,228 people who died in drunk driving crashes, accounting for 31% of all traffic deaths last year."
" In 2008 testimony before a Senate subcommittee, Medical Epidemiologist Dr. Leonard J. Paulozzi of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that in 2005 (the most recent year for which data was available) more than 22,000 American lives were lost due to overdoses, and the number is growing rapidly. Dr. Paulozzi also testified that all available evidence suggests that unintentional overdose deaths are related to the increasing use of prescription drugs, especially opioid painkillers."
"Per the Center for Disease Control, latest figures (2005) show 30,694 firearm deaths (all races, all ages, both sexes) in the United States. Since a firearm is an inanimate object, it can not be the sole creator/ root cause of a death as it must be handled by a person in order to be fired. A more accurate description is approximately 16,000 suicides using a firearm. Approximately 12,252 murders by firearms 80% of which are caused by felons/career criminals/gang member activities. USDOJ. National Gang Threat Assessment annual report 2009. Approximately 600 justifiable defensive shootings by both police and citizens. The remainder in accidental firearms discharges."
So of these three examples, the number of fatalities is pretty close to equal. Tens of thousands of people killed every year, but we only hear people crying out for the banning of one of the three examples. Now I suppose you could argue that the Drug deaths shouldn't be included since it only effects the user. Still I have to wonder how many of the drug related deaths are kids ODing because parents don't keep tighter control of their meds?
Crazy and stupid people will always do crazy and stupid things. A man will get behind the wheel of a 2000lb vehicle after drinking with his buddies even though he KNOWs that driving while drunk is stupid and dangerous. All of the drunk driving laws introduced have never changed that. People still pump themselves full of drugs even though they KNOW it is harmful to them and possibly the people around them.
Nutjobs like the guy in the article above and the "Batman" shooter will always find some way to hurt themselves and the people around them. If we ban guns, they will use knives. If we ban knives, they will use bombs (Don't even get me started on the handy explosive uses of many common household items.)
Even with the stricter gun control laws we have, it is still ridiculously easy for someone to obtain a gun illegally. If someone wants to commit gun violence especially on the scale described above, they will find someone to sell them what they need just like a drug addict will always find someone to give them their next fix.
In the end, the only people that laws effect are the people that actually follow the laws. This is why you never hear reports about the multitude of people in the US and around the world who DON"T walk into a school and kill children. You don't see stories on responsible gun owners who don't dress up in armor and kill dozens of people in a theater. Hell, someone getting tanked up on booze and plowing through a cafe window probably won't even make it past the headlines of a local paper.
When I was growing up, my family was easily one of the best armed groups in Pike County. We had rifles, shotguns, handguns and more ammo than the National Guard. Not once in the 20 years I lived at home did anyone in my family go on a killing spree. We don't need to control the guns. We need to control the crazy people that might own them. People preach about gun control, BUT if someone at that School had possessed a gun then maybe the death toll wouldn't have been so high.
"The best deterrent against someone with a gun is someone else with a gun."
End of Rant
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