Guns

“Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” Sure! The mass murderer of the month might have strangled all those kids if the adults stayed out of it and the kids waited their turn. Enough has been said since Friday about the need for stricter gun control, with which I concur, so I’ll try to keep the argument simple. We have insufficient regulation of who should be allowed to possess lethal weapons and that no one, other than authorized individuals, has a legitimate need for guns that fire multiple rounds of ammunition without having to reload.

I take issue with the core of the opposing argument by those of NRA mentality who claim that the nation would be safer if more people were armed. They argue that the killer in Newtown could have been stopped if the teacher had a gun handy, preferably in a holster I assume. This logic would require a proficiency in marksmanship that would disqualify a number of otherwise capable teachers. After all, a slight miss could result in the death of a student. Even experienced shooters need to exercise judgment in these situations. Pistols are not very accurate at longer distances.

I’ve had one experience that might have theoretically justified having a gun when my wife and I were robbed at gunpoint at our house in St. Maarten. If there had been one in the house I don’t think excusing myself to use the bathroom would have worked. I wouldn’t even have wanted one in my hand because I’ve seen too many movies with gunfights in which somebody gets killed and in real life it could have been me. Considering the material goods at stake I didn’t like the odds. My chance of winning might have been fifty-fifty were it not for a lack of experience at this sort of thing. Then there’s always the possibility of both of us losing.

We should know by now that, in addition to run of the mill thieves, the world has an abundance of demented people and America has its share of both. Granted, that even the strictest controls will not prevent access of every one of them to weapons for purposes other than hunting. But if “per capita” is a valid form of measurement, we are first or last, depending on one’s perspective, among other industrialized nations with their stricter controls.

I’m more hopeful than ever that enough Americans will see the light on the use of guns to make a difference. Until now we’ve shown ourselves to be slow
learners. More people were killed at Virginia Tech than Newtown, yet the slaughter of college age students apparently didn’t hit home as hard as what happened to young children on Friday. The names of the children killed will never make history books. But with a little luck their tragedy would put proper perspective on the intent of the Second Amendment.