A lot of the gun control arguments will probably turn out to be just as silly. Its far, far too late to ba[n] guns in this country, even if we could. Besides, the weapon was probably purchased legally. The only gun control that would make sense would be some methodology for keeping people who are depressed/homicidal/etc from getting legal weapons and to require a psych exam on a regular basis to catch gun owners who have slipped into such a broken state. But I am not a psychiatrist, so I have no idea if that notion is practical. [emphasis added]I think there is another component of gun control. Training. Instead of making the gun into some mythical, or is that mystical, instrument of either death or freedom why not educate (and train) students in how to handle a weapon safely. We do that with cars after all. We try to instill the rules into them from an early age. We do that with knives and other 'kitchen' utensils. We do that with drills, saws and other 'shop' tools.
When my father was a child his father (at some magically male milepost) taught him how to use a rifle, how to maintain it AND how to handle it safely. When my brother reached an age that seemed appropriate in this same male milepost, my father gave my brother a BB gun and went through a similar training process [... and no he didn't do the same for me but my brother was obviously interested and I was not. It was certainly a household where I could have expressed an interest or tagged along if I were paying any attention, which I wasn't.]
If we are not willing to start off training the young in the mechanics and safety concerns of firearms, then at least require training for anyone who wants to own a gun. In Arizona I recommend that anyone who owns a gun take the class that is required for a concealed weapons permit, whether or not they intend to carry a concealed weapon. They reduced the requirements recently, but when I took it I thought it was a worthwhile class.
I know this doesn't solve, or directly prevent, the horror of what happened at NIU. But even the outright prohibition of individual citizens owning guns doesn't solve the problem of a disturbed person seeking a way to make such a horrendous impact on others.
4 comments:
Ah once again you show yourself to be so...rational :).
I hate agreeing with the conservative gun nuts, but the cliche is true; guns don't kill people, etc etc.
Guns are inanimate objects, just like drugs. They don't do anything by themselves, people are the cause. We don't have a gun problem, we have a people problem. And an education problem.
I, too, grew up around guns and as a result understand, in a very real way, what they do and are for. Consequently, I respect them, just like any other tool. They are a means to an end, nothing more and nothing less. I don't need, or desire one but I know and respect them.
What we need to do is stop making so many stupid violent damaged people. After all, we do what we are taught. Lets teach respect or, dare I say it, love for ones self and others and the world around us.
This touches on so many issues, I find it hard to get off my soapbox, but I will for now.
Thanks for your connectedness, online and other wise.
I'm a little confused by your comment. Do you think I was advocating gun control? I wasn't.
I was however suggesting that we aught to treat guns similarly to other dangerous objects we have available to us in this society (e.g. cars, horses, kitchen stuff, tools and on and on). Most of us think there is training necessary to use these things (whether that training is accomplished in the home or in a classroom).
I was not advocating gun control and disagree with what I perceive as the predominant liberal/progressive or whatever attitude about guns.
That said, it will not be the Democrats who outlaw guns for civilians. If the authoritarian streak that's taking hold in the US continues it will be the Republicans/Conservatives/Authoritarians who take guns away from citizens as a means of further control of the populace.
Well, I guess I'm a little confused as to why you might be confused.
I'm pretty sure we're on the same page here though.
At the risk of generalization, I too disagree with the prevailing "left" attitude towards guns. Gun control, that is to say banning possession of them condones the attitude that, as you say "mystifies/mythologizes" the power of guns. Additionally one of the consequences of gun control (banning them) is to remove responsibility for one's actions, and I believe that one of the biggest overall problems we as a society have is an unwillingness to accept responsibility for our actions. Availability of guns does make it more likely that people will be shot, but with out people willing to fire them a gun will never kill someone all by itself. It is an uninformed careless/thoughtless/irresponsible person that will do the shooting. Education,(training), is how gun violence is avoided.
For clarity's sake- I'm not a gun fan but I do agree with many points they tend to make. Gun control means hitting your target.
It is not that we have guns; it is that we have people who think it is ok to shoot others to resolve difficulties, stupid, violent, irresponsible people.
I'm not fond of labels because they tend to cloud issues and identities, but I'll adopt a couple here to clear up your confusion. I am a progressive Democrat who believes that govt has a large role to play in our society and education, or in this case, training, is one of them. If this is food for thought, it would be a very complex multi course meal.
I guess this knotted bundle of issues might best be laid out in a post or two of my own. We'll see.
Again, thanks for your work.
gee, when people who think similarly get confused about what the other one implied then how much hope is there for communication between people who think differently?
cheers,
gail
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