In the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School as if on cue, the dialogue about gun control is reignited causing yet another schism in our country. There are those on both sides of the aisle in regards to gun control/ownership and there are extremes on either side who advocate elimination or de-regulation of firearms altogether. The truth is those extremes will attempt to polarize any event to their benefit and interest. When examining something like gun violence, one must take care NOT to include all homicide statistics, because gun crimes specifically focus on the use/brandishing of a firearm. Homicide statistics indicate that a person’s life was extinguished by any means including a gun. Gun crimes are unique because they straddle the fence between death and life; injury or unscathed.
Yes it’s true that guns have long been used by criminals to kill, hurt, intimidate and for personal gain, however for every bad guy with a gun (even in movies) there’s a good guy with one as well. These good people with guns are more often than not police but sometimes it’s a fellow citizen, or even a family member. These ordinary people who are hailed as heroes for .02sec by the media willingly saved the lives of those in danger. Today the NRA came on TV and highlighted how we protect our president, our celebrities and our money with guns, but leave that which we most treasure undefended. Part of me loves the idea, but part of me is horrified, horrified because we absentmindedly leave our next generation unprotected while they’re in their studies.
With each violent act we see, we propose new ideas and laws intended to protect those who cannot protect themselves. These indefensible people are everywhere, you and I included. While we may not think we need to carry protection on our person at all times, it is an option however in some states this has been banned. So we rely on others to protect us and yet we still leave the youngest of our civilization vulnerable. Our culture sensationalizes guns and we see the bang-bang-bang, rat tat tat of machine gun fire on the big screen, yet in every eyewitness account there’s a pop, pop, pop being described. The reason for this discrepancy is because that which we see on the screen is an automatic weapon designed for war and not sold to the public in many cases.
Semi Automatics are NOT Automatics. Semi indicates that the gun or external magazine case hold X amount of bullets which load with every shot. Semi because it uses the recoil to reload the weapon but each pull of the trigger only releases one bullet. A NON automatic weapon would require the user to load a new bullet each time after each shot (think musket). Automatic guns ARE banned and semi-automatics (hand and shotguns) are what cops use as well as hunters or those looking for home defense. It is simply not efficient to use a musket or single loading pistol defend one’s home (praying you don’t miss).
The desire to reduce the loss of life is a noble one, but one can’t blame the fact that the gun has 10 shots in a magazine, because in reality those 10 shots may be necessary when using it to defend your home. Even a quiver holds several arrows but because a crossbow needs to be reloaded after each shot, it’s less dangerous than a traditional bow because an archer can get several shots off before a crossbow has a chance to reload (This is just an analogy). The right to bear arms shall not be infringed upon has been decided by the Supreme court and they ruled in favor of Gun owners.
The statistics prove that it’s not the accessibility of the population to guns that reduces gun crime. In fact it’s the polar opposite. Australia, Mexico, Chicago, and Britain have the strictest gun laws on the books and gun crimes happen every day (with semi and full automatic weapons). How is this possible – because they can’t get them? Criminals do NOT obey the laws and disarming the population has PROVEN to increase all crime and the number of victims. The ONE thing that has statistically proven to be effective against a rampaging gun toting criminal AND reduce victim/body count is another LEGAL GUN OWNER. Whether that owner is concealed carry(citizen/off duty) or open carry (police/citizen) gun owners. The proof is in the pudding and when faced with a threat, those wishing to harm others (like Adam Lanza) will shoot themselves or give themselves up; the media suppress this fact.
