Yes, currently, gun ownership is protected by the second amendment. You'd
probably be hard pressed to find anyone on this list who wants to repeal that
right (myself included). HOWEVER, as mature adults, we need to face the fact
that the world has changed in the 200+ years since the bill of rights was
written. Yes, I know that some of you feel that everything dealing with the
constitution is black and white, but if that were the case, why the need for
us to have amended it 27 times? Lets not make the assumption that those great
patriots who drafted that great document were anything more than human.
There is no way they could have foreseen what 20th/21st century America would
become. Some of them didn't even have the foresight to see that owning
another human was wrong. Hell, we had to amend the constitution just to give
over half the population the right to vote, and again to give draft age men
the right to vote.
Bottom line is there need to be a multi-prong approach to the crisis of gun
violence in our country. Yes, we need to enforce the existing laws, but any
mature adult would have to agree that if mandatory back ground checks and
waiting periods save even one innocent life, it has to be worth it. What if
the life saved it that of one of your family members?
I'm sure that that many will respond that I'm a worthless godless heathen
who, like Antoine, should pack his bags and go to another country. But before
sending the hate mail, consider a few things: Does your right to immediate
gratification supersede the rights of all of us to live in a safer society?
Does owning a gun really make the average household safer? Anyone have
statistics on the chances of being a victim of violent crime versus the rate
of gun owning families sustaining accidental death or injury from their own
guns (including those used by criminals who find them before you get to them).
This is not a simple issue, and won't go away by simply quoting the sayings
of great patriots who advocated gun ownership a couple of hundred years ago.
We as individual citizens haven't needed to supply our own weapons in any
major conflict since the revolution. With the exception of those foaming at
the mouth fanatics who long for armed confrontation with the government,
there doesn't seem to be any threat looming of it on the horizon. Yeah, the
Democrats are scum bags. But guess what, so are the Republicans, and so are
99.9% of all politicians. But, they will eventually listen to the masses. If
enough crazy people wig out with guns, losing our right to ownership could
become a reality. We won't win any points by burying our heads in the sand
and stating that all responsibility belongs in the hands of the nut cases
that kill. Of course they are responsible for their actions, but gun
manufacturers, just like auto manufacturers have to be held to the highest
standards of gun safety. If they have the ability to manufacture a safer
weapon, than it is criminal not to do so, just based on profits. We too bear
some responsibility, as gun owners to be able to enter the debate with open
minds. Am I suggesting we quit, and give up our rights? No, of course not.
But I personally feel something needs to be done to stem the tide of gun
violence.
Yes, we might even end up like our brothers in Europe and Canada. But, having
been stationed in Europe for 3 1/2 years, and having visited Canada on a
number of occasions, other than their inability to speak proper English, they
don't seem like such bad places (plus you have about one-tenth the chance of
being killed in a gun related crime).
Thanks,
Chris DeWitt
===
To unsubscribe from the mil-veh mailing list, send the single word
UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of a message to <mil-veh-request@skylee.com>.