I haven't heard anything more than what was on last night. What's to know? some whack job killed some people.
Now, scores of grieving family and friends wrestle with their emotions and try to figure out what happened, and more importantly, why.
There is no why. Not one that will bring peace of mind. It simply is, and the question now - what do we do to fix it?
Arm everybody? No. That won't work. Face it, most folks don't want to be armed. For whatever reason, they don't think carrying a firearm is necessary. Some folks have no business carrying a gun. Even if they meet the legal requirements, they simply don't have the strength of character necessary to have one.
Ban guns? Yeah, that's been working out well lately. Virtually all of these shootings happened in "gun-free zones". According to the Brady Campaign, Illinois places 9th on their list of best state gun laws. If this doesn't prove once and for all that restrictive gun laws don't work, I don't know what will.
These are the two main courses of action many people call for, neither of which will work. So what to do?
First, we need to get our heads out of the sand and let the people who choose to legally carry a firearm do so. Anywhere and everywhere. Let grown-ups act like grown-ups. We are civilized people, let us enjoy the benefits of being civilized.
To those who don't want to carry firearms I say fine, don't. But be mature enough to understand those who do are as fine a people as you are. They love their families, and love their individual freedom. They won't shoot you if you take their parking spot or grab the last can of wasabi almonds off the store shelf. They know, as you do, it's not worth it. I for one, would hate to have to shoot someone for the simple fact that I don't want to lose my gun to an evidence locker. Not for some piece of crap hoodlum who thinks I might have money.
Will this solve the problem? No. Nothing will ever solve the problem. There has been, and always will be, evil in the world. What else can you call it? We see it every day; women killing their kids, mass shootings, just today a woman's body was found just outside Memphis with no hands, feet, or head. Tell me evil doesn't exist.
Like the saying goes, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke).
That's what's going on here. The good guys are doing nothing. They are hiding behind useless laws and the hope that someone else will save them. Someone else being the law, of course. Not Joe or Jane Average who happens to be carrying a gun. They don't have thetraining uniform. Never mind the fact that Joe or Jane has put more lead downrange in a weekend than some cops do in a year.
We've so castrated our society, we can't do the right thing for fear of getting arrested. Have a beef with a classmate? Don't duke it out in the schoolyard, you might get arrested. Your sister's boyfriend smacking her around? Don't go punch his lights out, you will get arrested. Neighbor's dog getting in your trash/garden/stuff? Don't put some rocksalt in his ass, you'll get sued by the owner and PETA.
We have to get back to the point in our society where men and women who take action for the betterment of those around them are rewarded, not condemned. Let grown-ups act like grown-ups without getting bent out of shape over some imaginary comfort zone. There is no comfort zone, there never has been. Evil is out there. It doesn't want you to think about it. If you think about it, you might be prepared.
That was quite a ramble, wasn't it?
Now, scores of grieving family and friends wrestle with their emotions and try to figure out what happened, and more importantly, why.
There is no why. Not one that will bring peace of mind. It simply is, and the question now - what do we do to fix it?
Arm everybody? No. That won't work. Face it, most folks don't want to be armed. For whatever reason, they don't think carrying a firearm is necessary. Some folks have no business carrying a gun. Even if they meet the legal requirements, they simply don't have the strength of character necessary to have one.
Ban guns? Yeah, that's been working out well lately. Virtually all of these shootings happened in "gun-free zones". According to the Brady Campaign, Illinois places 9th on their list of best state gun laws. If this doesn't prove once and for all that restrictive gun laws don't work, I don't know what will.
These are the two main courses of action many people call for, neither of which will work. So what to do?
First, we need to get our heads out of the sand and let the people who choose to legally carry a firearm do so. Anywhere and everywhere. Let grown-ups act like grown-ups. We are civilized people, let us enjoy the benefits of being civilized.
To those who don't want to carry firearms I say fine, don't. But be mature enough to understand those who do are as fine a people as you are. They love their families, and love their individual freedom. They won't shoot you if you take their parking spot or grab the last can of wasabi almonds off the store shelf. They know, as you do, it's not worth it. I for one, would hate to have to shoot someone for the simple fact that I don't want to lose my gun to an evidence locker. Not for some piece of crap hoodlum who thinks I might have money.
Will this solve the problem? No. Nothing will ever solve the problem. There has been, and always will be, evil in the world. What else can you call it? We see it every day; women killing their kids, mass shootings, just today a woman's body was found just outside Memphis with no hands, feet, or head. Tell me evil doesn't exist.
Like the saying goes, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke).
That's what's going on here. The good guys are doing nothing. They are hiding behind useless laws and the hope that someone else will save them. Someone else being the law, of course. Not Joe or Jane Average who happens to be carrying a gun. They don't have the
We've so castrated our society, we can't do the right thing for fear of getting arrested. Have a beef with a classmate? Don't duke it out in the schoolyard, you might get arrested. Your sister's boyfriend smacking her around? Don't go punch his lights out, you will get arrested. Neighbor's dog getting in your trash/garden/stuff? Don't put some rocksalt in his ass, you'll get sued by the owner and PETA.
We have to get back to the point in our society where men and women who take action for the betterment of those around them are rewarded, not condemned. Let grown-ups act like grown-ups without getting bent out of shape over some imaginary comfort zone. There is no comfort zone, there never has been. Evil is out there. It doesn't want you to think about it. If you think about it, you might be prepared.
That was quite a ramble, wasn't it?
2 comments:
Well, at least you can write it.
I get so bent out of shape every time I try that I end up just deleting the whole thing and go play with my kids.
However, you do bring up a good point. There is no solution. None. Nothing will stop this from happening. Personally, I believe the best we can do is deter it and in the process lessen the severity.
And the best way to do that is, like you said, allow those who have the fortitude to protect themselves to do so with the tools that suit them the best.
Yeah, it wasn't easy. There's so many things running through the 'ol noggin on this, I just took Ferris Bueller's advice and said "what the f*ck".
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