Gun Control
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Having followed the thinking of a great amount of conversation regarding the latest fiasco at Virgina and the rehashing of the Collumbine incident as pertaining to gun control,I find it disturbing that the call for greater gun control is rearing it's ugly head again.Please forgive me as my age has started to cloud my memory a little bit but I can remember back in the '70's when a former Soviet KGB official that defected to the United States stated that the main reason why the Soviets didn't seriously entertain invading this country was,while they thought that if they were able to conquer the U.S.'s military,they still had to deal with all the armamant in the hands of the populace.They determined that they couldn't do it.Being a former decorated enlisted Marine in the Viet Nam war,I know what damage weaponry can do,but weaponry in the hands of qualified individuals can have a great effect on peace as I have stated above.In my state,Cho would have never been able to purchase the firearms legally because of his stalking and mental health issues.What is needed is better enforcement of the current laws,not the abolishment of firearms altogether.The most easily conquered people are the ones that cannot defend themselves.You cannot always rely on the military and the police to protect you all the time.While being a progressive democrat,I strongly believe in the right to protect myself.
First, the mental health care workers have their hands tied because of "rules" that are ususally directly linked to the funding they receive, if any.
The bottom line is if someone had really tried to help this young man, there probably wouldn't have been anywhere for him to go to get the services he needed.
This is the real tragedy...and there are thousands of other people..just like him...wandering our streets, workplaces and campuses...
I watched on C-Span as they debated a mere 20 million dollar allocation for the protection of Federal Judges (huge waste, if you ask me), and thought "how much cheaper it would be all round if we didn't need to anticipate every nut job in the country wandering around with a Glock 9mm.."
Then again, self-defense against said nut job is also a genuine issue..
So I thought a good compromise would be to allow shotguns and hunting rifles, but to ban all hand guns and automatic weapons. Frankly, unless you're ex-military or police, you don't have much chance with a handgun anyway! whereas with a shotgun it's pretty much point and shoot :)
BUT you can't carry the damn thing in a bookbag, or in your pocket..you at least have to walk around dressed suspiciously in a trench coat, and have a max 1 or 2 rounds before you're all done. You can't pull off a massacre.
In England, you're allowed hunting rifles,and may carry them about if they are broken. BUT you are required to keep them in a locked cabinet, and they send inspectors around annually to make sure they are all accounted for--and GOD HELP YOU if ANYONE in your household has access to that cabinet besides yourself. This is civilized, and still allows people to defend their home in a nightmare situation.
What do you all think?