Again...

I'm pissed.  Another massacre at another school.  "Breaking News"...  It is becoming "not news".  Same old, same old.

The same helicopter pictures of surviving students running out of the school with their hands raised.  The same kind of angry young person killing others with the same kind of gun.  The same condemnations of the violence, the same regrets by the school leaders and the politicians.

I understand the news channels focussing on it.  It is what they have to do.  It's their job.  They report events.

I understand the school and local leaders decrying the event.  They really didn't think it would happen "HERE" in their good town.

I understand politicians speaking sadly of the event.  They really didn't think THEY would ever have to say the sad words about a school massacre.

I understand the shocked parents of the dead, wounded, and living struggling to get their children back home into the safety of their arms. 

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What pisses me off is that I can hear extremists dusting off their prepared and often read speeches in favor of their positions about guns. 

Some will argue on today's talk shows that everyone should have a gun for protection, as if we want our children carrying guns.  That some teachers with guns in their desks would have stopped a deranged person from firing down a crowded hallway after the fire alarm was set off.  Yeah, just what you want; untrained people dedicated to calm education firing shots all around try to hit one student who looks like all the rest.  That it is "too soon" to talk about this newest tragedy...

Some will argue that all guns should be confiscated just to prevent this sort of thing.  As if we can find and destroy 300 million guns in the US.  That better security in schools would prevent this sort of thing.  That teachers need more anti-violence training.

I'm not sure what the solution is. 

A few things I do know.  This happens too often.  And as one commenter pointed out, there are also 90 gun deaths in the US on a typical day.  A politician pointed out than after gun laws of various sorts in Connecticut were tightened, gun deaths went down 40%.

I know that most of the guns used by students or former students in school massacres is often an AR-15 and they get them from home or friends.  Why does anyone need one in their home?

I know that more people are killed with their own guns then are ever used to successfully drive off an intruder.  That's a negative sum game.

I know that I'm comfortable around guns.  I was taught their purpose, their lethality, and how to use them.  I have hunted animals and killed them (and you eat what you kill). 

I know that you don't need an AR-15 or an AK-47 or any weapon like that to kill a deer.

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We can have guns for legitimate reasons.  I don't want to hunt deer with my Roman Gladius or a spear.  But you don't need an assault rifle for that either.  A single shot 12 gauge works just fine. 

And we don't need assault rifles to protect us from the Government.  If some dictator takes control, either the army will follow him or they won't and if they do, you can have your AK-47 and it won't do you any good!  They are trained to kill you.

Not that I expect they would, but you get my meaning.  They are trained and organized, you aren't.  If you and you and some para-military wannabees try to fight the army, you are all dead all to 0.

So lets discuss guns.  They work as designed.  A projectile comes out the front and it either hits something or not.  Most gun deaths seem to be self-inflicted.  You don't need an AK-47 for that.  I have no particular objection to suicide, but a 22 pistol will work just fine.  What are you going to do in a suicide?  Shoot yourself 30 times?

If you want to kill yourself, drink a quart of vodka real fast, wrap a plastic bag around your head and lay in the bathtub.  It's less messy.

So why do we have so many guns, and to what purpose?  Surely not for us to have some teenager take it and go shoot everyone (most of whom they don't even know). 

To protect ourselves from intruders?  Very few homes are intruded, and usually the intruder is not trying to kill you.  Waving a kitchen knife around is probably as good as a gun.  Faced with a gun, an intruder may shoot more for fear of his own life.  They can back away from a knife.  I had a college roommate who subdued 2 burglers with a baseball bat and THEY had pistols.

We need to rethink our gun-ownership.  Have a hunting gun is JUST fine!  Go shoot a deer.  We have too many of them as it is.  But these crazy military semi and truly automatic killing weapons have to go away. 

Start with making them illegal for private ownership.  Then offer half the value for ones turned in, no questions asked.  As the number goes down, fewer angry young students will have access.

Fewer angry young students, fewer school massacres. 

I could type all night.  As Arlo Guthrie said "I'm not tired...  or proud".  But I've said enough.

Guns

There are guns.  16 gauges to shoot squirrels, 12 gauges for hunting deer.  In some places rifles are appropriate for longer shots at bigger prey.

But that's it!

There is no reason anyone needs any bigger gun than those.

Hunting deer and squirrels is fine.  You want to hunt wild sheep from 500 yards, learn to get closer.  You say it is a sport?  Good, get better at it.  But no one needs an AK 47 to hunt.

I've hunted.  Had a wonderful time, and it was exciting.  I did well sneaking through the woods after deer.  Field-dressed a few myself.  And there are too many deer in the East.  I don't object to killing deer.  But if you need an Ak 47 to kill a deer, then you aren't "hunting"; you are just blasting away like some random Elmer Fudd.

Who wants to be an Elmer Fudd?

So I want to keep my 12 gauge.  And my crossbow.

Its the crazies who want to prevent ANY sensible gun laws to prevent the nuts from "carrying"that are going to ruin MY moderate gun usage.  And it's the NRA driving the "win everything or lose it all" that is the problem.

I want the leadership of the NRA to be removed.  Not the NRA itself.  And membership agrees...

1.  83 percent of all gun owners and 72 percent of the NRA members surveyed voiced support for universal background checks.

2.  56 percent of the Republican gun owners polled said they would be more likely to support a candidate who favors universal background checks.

3.  Only 29 percent of the respondents said they believe the NRA represents their views on the issue on the NRA platform.

I want some sensible laws about responsible gun ownership.   Some sensible laws, like...

A. If you are the 'No Fly List", you shouldn't be able to buy a gun.
B. If you have a mental problem, you shouldn't be able to buy a gun.
C. If you are a felon, you shouldn't be able to buy a gun.
D. If you are are under a court order about being away from someone, you shouldn't be able to buy a gun under any circumstance.

And I'll take it another step further.  If we can't eliminate guns, lets eliminate ammunition.  No bullets, and and the crazies can have all the guns they want. 

Sure, some people can make ammunition.  But less than Walmart sells.