Whats With America and Guns?

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

If ever a topic needed logic and reason applied to it. This is really a non-issue for me, I slmost started not to blog about it. I dont even get where the debate is. Guns serve one purpose: to kill. We want less people killing each other. Therefore, guns should be illegal. There... I solved it already. Dont stir that mortar... I dont need any busts made in my image. I do this kinda stuff for free.

Here's the thing, when we did something as a collective in Elementary school, and one or a few people couldn't behave, we all lost that priviledge. Now, unlike the Right wing of America, I'm against guns, and think (actually, I know) they serve NO purpose, but, lets say you're one of those Christian Conservatives who likes to hunt. Well, okay, here's my answer "sorry Bobby... we gave Jimmy a warning... but Jimmy kept killing his playmates... you guys know the rules. If you guys can't handle the freedom, then Im going to take it away."

So, even if I gave some credence to this barbaric, simplistic desire to hunt... WHICH I DONT... I'd still say, too bad... the greater good out weighs your drive to shoot Bambi in the head. Sorry, get a new hobby. Paintball... Laser tag or something. Yeah... laser tag... its been 20 years, bring it back.

And then there's the protection argument, which is a circular argument. You need protection from who... oh, the other guy who has a gun. But, you wouldn't need protection from him if firearms were illegal and he didn't have access to guns either. Not to mention, if just having a firearm were to become illegal... that could open up grounds for easier warrants, fines and arrests helping prosecution of potential criminals.

Do people in France need such protection?

If you look at the murder rate per capita (click here), you will see that the United States is pretty high on the list. With a murder rate triple that of most Western European countries with laws against private ownership of firearms. People want to perpetuate the lie that no guns equals lawlessness "i need to protect myself", but, then... what exactly are the police for? Some, might be silly enough to say, "hey, we're not that high... we're only #24." Well, um... okay, if you want to compare our violence to places like, Columbia, South Africa, Russia, Mexico and Zimbabwe, well, i guess its not that bad. But, I would say... if we'd rather compare the United States violence to a country like Zimbabwe, than to say... Italy, thats not exactly a comforting sign, is it? Population, obviously plays into any list that is NOT per capita, however, we our fourth highest in the world in the number of deaths per year from firearms. (click here) We're third in the world in terms of total population. You may say, well, thats not that bad, 3rd most in people... 4th most in deaths... not bad eh? Well, not exactly. India and China are not leading the Robert Blake race. Interesting since their populations DWARF our own. But, if you look at that second chart, you see this noticeable drop out after #5, and this HUGE drop off after #8.

I wont use this as a time to praise all the hard-core Jesus pastors who vehemently support Republicans (who are the pro gun party) , and sometimes hint that voting for Democrats can be non-Christian. Just another example of Republicans doing God's will. (Divine Population control?)

Meanwhile, in London... they're having a problem of their own...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25543275/

[ Knife crimes rip through city, overtaking terrorism as top priority ]

To anyone living in America, this has got to be a joke... right? Stabbings? Knife crimes? This sounds like traveling 400 years into the past. Jack the Ripper? Oh no... knives... run for your lives. Unless you're Julius Caesar... you're probably not too concerned with knife crimes. When stabbings are your main crime problem, as far as I'm concerned... you dont have a crime problem. The point is: Guns are too easy. Crimes of passion have too much potential. Those with ill intent have the ability to inflict far more violence with a gun, compared to a knife. Im not really worried about Jack the Ripper... but America has had many instances of mass murder committed by citizens who exercized their right to bear arms.

And, let me also, say, the NRA and their powerful lobby (praise, Jesus!) have done everything in their power to make gun ownership as easy as possible. Doesn't Christianity say something about the love of money...? Even the ban on assault rifles has lifted and has not been re-established. C'mon hunters. Unless you're hunting T-Rex... Velociraptors... or... taking on a pride of Lion on your own... what does the average American need with an AK-47? This sense of "freedom"... um... you can be TOO free... one of the fundamental roles of government is to supply security and control. Hard to do when the government is helping to flood the streets chaos creating weapons. Hallelujah!

And last but not least, lets not forget the people who hold to the "its the 2nd amendment!" retort. Um... so, what? Amend it. Amendments have been... AMENDED before. Amendments have either complimented, added to, or outright contradicted something that was previously law of the land. I got my other 2/5's of a person back! So it can be done. Now, I cooooooooould be wrong... however, it stands to reason, certain things that were necessary or believed in 1776, might not be practical as law in 232 years later. Just a thought...

When the amendment was written, we were a fledgling country. Remember, we had no police departments. No real army, just small militias that were dealing with the threat of Imperial Britain. But now... um... we have the Army... the Navy... the Marines... the Airforce... the city Police... the CIA... the FBI... the State Troopers... the county police [Sheriffs]... the National Guard... etc... etc..

I think... even without citizens with guns... we, will be fine. Just a thought.

- Charles Whitman (1966) was the ex-Marine who murdered several people from the UT Tower in Austin, Texas. His suicide note requested an autopsy, which interestingly enough showed a large lump at the base of his brain.

- James Huberty went on a killing spree in a South California McDonald's letting off 300 rounds. He tried to call a mental illness hotline the day before, but didn't recieve a callback because his name was misspelled.

- George Harnard (1991) committed the "Luby's Cafe Massacre" in Killeen, Texas when he backed his truck into a Luby's restaurant and started opening fire a shotgun, killing customers as they hid behind tables. He left 22 dead and killed himself after being shot once by a police officer.
- The "Brown's Chicken Massacre" (1993) left 7 people dead in a Chicago suburb as Juan Luna and Jim Digorski decided to add some excitement to their life by planning to shoot some people.

- Colin Ferguson (1994) was the man behind the "Long Island Railroad Massacre" when he randomly started opening fire on people on a NY train.

- Jennifer San Marco (2006) was a former postal worker who went back to her job and killed 5, including herself.

- Solomon Talevic killed 5 in Salt Lake City in the "Trolley Square Mall Shooting" where he entered the mall and randomly opened fire.

- Charles Roberts (2006), angry at God at the death of his infant daghter, committed the "Amish School Massacre" killing 5 in a Amish school for girls.

- Robert Hawkins (2007), who had a history of mental illness, stole his stepdad's assault rifle and committed the "West Roads Mall Shooting" in Omaha, Nebraska leaving 8 dead.

Columbine... the DC Sniper... and the Virginia Tech massacre dont even need to be mentioned... let alone the violence many people see on their tv sets every evenings.