Well I have not posted since right before Christmas when the Christmas poem came to me. We (the collective we) were lamenting about goings on in far off lands and learning new ways to disrespect each other. Now we are back to one of the tried and true ways - fighting over gun control. Before I get into it let me let you give you some facts about me - I do not own any guns. I have never watched Fox news (except for switching between them and MSNBC and PBS on election night - I enjoy the contrast). I have voted for Democrats and Republican over my voting years. I try to get to facts instead of emotions on issues that are very inflammatory, like gun control.
There has been another school shooting by a crazed individual with a gun; no THE gun, that all the world's troubles have been attached to; the AR-15. (AR-15-style is more correct, as actual AR-15s - trademark name owned by Colt - are a small part of the market as every rifle manufacturer makes a variant) This rifle is a semi-automatic modular rifle that fires a .223 ordinance (bullet) from 10, 20, or 30 round magazines. It is not an assault weapon/rifle, it is not an automatic weapon/rifle. As an aside, the AR stands for Armalite Rifle, for the first manufacturer of the weapon. They sold the rights to the design to Colt in 1959 and Colt sold them exclusively for decades. The correct designation for the rifle is a MSR or Modern Sporting Rifle - the official industry name for this class of weapon.
For the record, I would have no problem in severely restricting the sale of this type of weapon - age restrictions, waiting periods, etc. I have no problem with restricting or eliminating the sale of bump stock devices which allow these semi-automatic weapons to perform similarly to a fully automatic. (similarly is the key, if you have ever shot or been around a true automatic rifle - also called a machine gun - as I have, you would immediately see the difference) I have no problem in eliminating or severely restricting the sale of the very high capacity magazines. I wanted to get that out to show I understand the arguments. I just do not think any of that ultimately will do much if any good in stopping these senseless killings. However, if it saves any lives, let's do it.
Now for my point - THERE IS NO LAW THAT WILL STOP THE LAWLESS!
Do us a favor and read that a few times. Laws do not stop anyone except the lawful from doing anything. I said that the other day and was asked - "so we just have a lawless society and give up?" or similar. I am not saying that. It is just a fact that laws don't stop lawlessness from occurring. Now, do not think for a moment I am comparing any of the following with a mass shooting or murder, but I want to make a point.
Most, if not all. of you reading this broke the law recently if you drove a car. WHAT!? you say. Yep, are you really going to tell me you were totally compliant with EVERY speed limit on EVERY road for EVERY trip you took lately? If so, I have never been on the road with you. How many of you have ever stolen something - maybe shoplifted a candy bar or something as a kid? Now, how about the serious stuff. If laws stopped lawlessness/crime - why would we need police and courts? People would just stop murder, robbery, assault, etc. because the laws were there. If you want a real-world example of something similar, how about the laws concerning (and WAR ON) drugs and drug use? We have packed our prisons and jails with literally hundreds of thousands of drug dealers, smugglers, users, etc. Can any of you say that illegal drugs are not available almost anywhere in the country?
As another example, how about Prohibition? We as a society banned the manufacture, distribution, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages and according to my grandfather (and history) there was no difference in the availability of it, just different ways of getting it. Why does any rational person thinks guns and/or gun laws would be any different? One last comment on laws - except in proven instances of self-defense - it is illegal to shoot someone anyway! All societies, religions, and people have a law/credo of "thou shall not kill"!
There is NO LAW THAT WILL STOP THE LAWLESS!
Now, for some perspective: as horrible as these shootings and deaths are, they are very rare. There are an average of @70 people killed a year in mass shooting. I am not trying to diminish the fact that innocent people/children died. It is appalling and beyond description to know that a child goes to school and does not return because they were shot. However, if this were truly about saving lives we could work on other issues with as much passion. How about suicide prevention - over 100 people a day, every day commit suicide! A large percentage of them are our veterans. We could work on alerting people to the dangers of tylenol - over 450 people a year die from overdoses. We could address hospital/medical mistakes - over 200,000 people die annually! About 550 A DAY from medical errors! Over 1,500 people a year die from knife wounds (or other "cutting instruments"). Now, again I am not making light of any deaths, nor am I trying to downplay the school/mass shooting deaths. But, if we are truly worried about loss of life there are many, many other areas that take many, many more people. The politicization is what I really have a real issue with.There were nine mass shootings during the Obama presidency. Why were there no marches on Washington for them? These kids are being used as pawns in a political play. (note: I decided to leave the original wording and put a correction - there WAS a protest in front of Congress in 2013 after the Newtown, CT/Sandy Hook school shooting - apologies -I missed that in my research as I as looking for protests at the White House)
I wish peace on any family, friend, neighbor, or schoolmate that lost anyone in this latest or any shooting. But I also think of all the other needless deaths and the effects from those.
There has been another school shooting by a crazed individual with a gun; no THE gun, that all the world's troubles have been attached to; the AR-15. (AR-15-style is more correct, as actual AR-15s - trademark name owned by Colt - are a small part of the market as every rifle manufacturer makes a variant) This rifle is a semi-automatic modular rifle that fires a .223 ordinance (bullet) from 10, 20, or 30 round magazines. It is not an assault weapon/rifle, it is not an automatic weapon/rifle. As an aside, the AR stands for Armalite Rifle, for the first manufacturer of the weapon. They sold the rights to the design to Colt in 1959 and Colt sold them exclusively for decades. The correct designation for the rifle is a MSR or Modern Sporting Rifle - the official industry name for this class of weapon.
For the record, I would have no problem in severely restricting the sale of this type of weapon - age restrictions, waiting periods, etc. I have no problem with restricting or eliminating the sale of bump stock devices which allow these semi-automatic weapons to perform similarly to a fully automatic. (similarly is the key, if you have ever shot or been around a true automatic rifle - also called a machine gun - as I have, you would immediately see the difference) I have no problem in eliminating or severely restricting the sale of the very high capacity magazines. I wanted to get that out to show I understand the arguments. I just do not think any of that ultimately will do much if any good in stopping these senseless killings. However, if it saves any lives, let's do it.
Now for my point - THERE IS NO LAW THAT WILL STOP THE LAWLESS!
Do us a favor and read that a few times. Laws do not stop anyone except the lawful from doing anything. I said that the other day and was asked - "so we just have a lawless society and give up?" or similar. I am not saying that. It is just a fact that laws don't stop lawlessness from occurring. Now, do not think for a moment I am comparing any of the following with a mass shooting or murder, but I want to make a point.
Most, if not all. of you reading this broke the law recently if you drove a car. WHAT!? you say. Yep, are you really going to tell me you were totally compliant with EVERY speed limit on EVERY road for EVERY trip you took lately? If so, I have never been on the road with you. How many of you have ever stolen something - maybe shoplifted a candy bar or something as a kid? Now, how about the serious stuff. If laws stopped lawlessness/crime - why would we need police and courts? People would just stop murder, robbery, assault, etc. because the laws were there. If you want a real-world example of something similar, how about the laws concerning (and WAR ON) drugs and drug use? We have packed our prisons and jails with literally hundreds of thousands of drug dealers, smugglers, users, etc. Can any of you say that illegal drugs are not available almost anywhere in the country?
As another example, how about Prohibition? We as a society banned the manufacture, distribution, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages and according to my grandfather (and history) there was no difference in the availability of it, just different ways of getting it. Why does any rational person thinks guns and/or gun laws would be any different? One last comment on laws - except in proven instances of self-defense - it is illegal to shoot someone anyway! All societies, religions, and people have a law/credo of "thou shall not kill"!
There is NO LAW THAT WILL STOP THE LAWLESS!
Now, for some perspective: as horrible as these shootings and deaths are, they are very rare. There are an average of @70 people killed a year in mass shooting. I am not trying to diminish the fact that innocent people/children died. It is appalling and beyond description to know that a child goes to school and does not return because they were shot. However, if this were truly about saving lives we could work on other issues with as much passion. How about suicide prevention - over 100 people a day, every day commit suicide! A large percentage of them are our veterans. We could work on alerting people to the dangers of tylenol - over 450 people a year die from overdoses. We could address hospital/medical mistakes - over 200,000 people die annually! About 550 A DAY from medical errors! Over 1,500 people a year die from knife wounds (or other "cutting instruments"). Now, again I am not making light of any deaths, nor am I trying to downplay the school/mass shooting deaths. But, if we are truly worried about loss of life there are many, many other areas that take many, many more people. The politicization is what I really have a real issue with.There were nine mass shootings during the Obama presidency. Why were there no marches on Washington for them? These kids are being used as pawns in a political play. (note: I decided to leave the original wording and put a correction - there WAS a protest in front of Congress in 2013 after the Newtown, CT/Sandy Hook school shooting - apologies -I missed that in my research as I as looking for protests at the White House)
I wish peace on any family, friend, neighbor, or schoolmate that lost anyone in this latest or any shooting. But I also think of all the other needless deaths and the effects from those.
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