May 27, 2022 Sad Days in The USA

Another school shooting, another group of parents in mourning. 

And still, more denial that guns are to blame. Of course, guns are not to blame. Easy access and the culture of guns and violence is much more the villain in this story than any inanimate object. But like the Lynyrd Skynyrd song says, handguns are made for killing, they ain’t no good for nothing else. The word handgun should be changed to assault rifle in today’s world. 

I doubt this latest tragedy will do anything to change the situation in the self-proclaimed “freest” country in the world. Sadly the divide is far too great and the gun lobby is way too powerful to allow anything to change when it comes to laws around access to guns. That became painfully obvious in the aftermath of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary almost ten years ago. So many people on the “right” side of the political spectrum came out in defense of guns even before they knew the full story of this horrible event. 

Change is far too hard for them.

Yet, most people in the USA want common-sense laws to prevent mentally ill and criminally minded people from obtaining guns legally. Yes, criminals will get illegal guns, but they will also break other laws like theft, breaking and entering, and speeding. Does this mean we shouldn’t have laws because people won’t obey them? Countries all over the world have banned assault rifles and it worked. But in America just the mere mention of gun control has a certain element foaming at the mouth and screaming “you can’t take away my guns!”

We don’t want to take away the guns of law-abiding people. However, in the last two weeks, two men who were not old enough to purchase a six-pack of beer were able to walk into a store and buy military-style assault rifles – without so much as a license. This is not about taking away the guns from millions of good upstanding citizens. It is about doing something to prevent people who should not own a high-powered weapon to go down the street and buy one for the express purpose of murdering the most people possible. 

The guy in Buffalo New York had been posting on social media racist rants and was basically telling people his plans. Why could the system not be designed so that these people must fill out an application for a license and then wait 48 hours while a thorough vetting process is done? It will not catch everyone nor will it stop all the bad guys. But if it keeps a gun out of the hands of one mentally ill person and saves one life it must be worth it.

I half-jokingly ask my friends who are ardent supporters of the “right to bare arms” if this is some form of population control. I know that seems a bit dark, but I don’t understand any other answer. People who are good citizens who only use their guns for target shooting should keep access to those guns. But why can’t they do it in a controlled situation like a range? Limit assault weapons to the military and the police and the firing range. People are not allowed to own race cars designed for the race track on the streets, the term street-legal is there for a reason. Yet gun advocates argue that cars kill more people than guns – that’s why there are rules around car ownership. 

Nothing makes any sense.

I’m sure it makes less sense to the families who have lost the burgeoning lives in the latest school massacre. 

The gun advocates are right about one thing. It is not the gun that kills people, it is the people who do that. But why? Why do so many people find it ok to go to the store and purchase a gun and then walk into a building and open fire? It is a cultural issue. The violent culture ingrained into America is getting worse and getting darker. Movies, video games and even sports glorifies violence and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight.

There need to be limits somewhere. One place is the easy access to the weapons that enable people who have been twisted by society’s penchant for violence to make it more difficult to buy one. In Canada, there are very strict limits to being able to own a gun, and assault rifles, which are prevalent in the USA are not available in our country. New Zealand banned military weapons when they suffered a mass shooting in their country – there hasn’t been one since.

Some would argue they need guns for self-defense. This makes me sad. I feel very lucky to live in a place where I never hear of anyone needing to use a gun to defend their family. That is why we have the police. Yet I am willing to respect people who feel more comfortable owning a gun. Why do so many feel any restriction on obtaining a weapon designed to kill is a violation of their rights, an effort to take away their guns? 

It makes no sense.

I guess that is why they call events like this senseless…

It is indeed sad days in the USA.