well, it's just that season again in washington, it seems.
allow me to first point out that i was moved to the point of tears by the murders at VT. i identify with those victims on a personal level and wish that they never had to feel the pain they have and are now feeling. i think the same thing about iraqis, which is most of why i hate this war we're in there. but there are certain things that aren't to blame here.
guns are not to blame. guns cannot do a thing without humans to use them. and, as the popular argument goes, illegality won't stop people who really want them from getting them. like the kids who carried out columbine all those years ago. they were underage but that didn't stop them from having an uzi, shotgun and 9mm handguns. in the same way, these laws do nothing to stop criminals in any city. illegality will only serve to disarm the general, law-abiding populace.
another point, brought up today, was the fact that australia has had no "mass shootings" in about 10 years. that is quite true and it really hasn't hurt them to take the weapons out of the hands of unstable individuals. but truly it does little good in either case.
let us take the shootings this week as an example. even one armed student in one of the rooms would have helped to save lives if not for a rule that no guns may be brought onto campus. who did this prevent? certainly not a murderer but most certainly all those students who do not want to be expelled and lose years of hard work over a gun. it is sad that they did not have the option of defending themselves and other students from this man.
and it is absolutely ridiculous to blame this whole episode on the gun shop cho purchased his 9mm from. he has no criminal record, nothing of note to suggest he shouldn't legally be able to buy a gun and didn't raise any red flags with the shop staff. i could purchase a gun in the same manner for self-defense and they would never be able to guess the difference.
And a good point that comes to mind: why do we keep hearing about how this breaks all the old shooting records? why are we inviting another, larger killing simply for sensational journalism?
anyhow, i'm quite open to all your comments on this and would welcome the discussion.
if you'd like more reading, albiet quite in favor of gun ownership, go here. it's got some good analysis of data used in favor of gun control.
talk to you all soon.