18 April 2007

Guns

With the recent events at Virginia Tech, a lot of people have been talking about gun control. I'm very liberal, but with gun control I'm undecided. I haven't quite made up my mind about where I stand on the issue.

I grew up (and still live) in the gun-toting "Bible Belt", so I've grown up around guns. I've shot a gun. I've held guns. My father's a lifetime member of the NRA. I've been to gun shows. There's a gun in this house right now. I'm not surprised to hear a gun shot at any time of the day.

I've always felt uncomfortable around guns. After all, they're made for killing. Why shouldn't I be uncomfortable around them? Most gun owners frequently regurgitate the phase, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people". We just need to keep "nut jobs" from owning and obtaining guns. Right? No. I disagree. People might pull the trigger, but without that gun it isn't as easy. Strangling or stabbing someone can still cause a death, and it does happen, but people generally have to be much closer than with a gun. Guns make murder easier. Another problem I have is that murderers aren't always nut jobs. They could be perfectly responsible people that make a bad decision one day. And if someone is a nut job, they could still easily obtain a gun.

And that's why I don't support an all-out ban on guns. If our government banned guns, they would still be available on the black market. This technology will never go away until it's replaced with something better; that's they way our world works. If only government and police were allowed guns, how could we protect ourselves from gun-wielding psycho cops (not that there are many of them, but still)?

Something else I've heard a lot of recently is this statement: "If we ban guns, we may as well ban _____ because of ______." For example, on a recent MySpace group post, someone said something along the lines of, "We may as well ban planes because of 9/11". This is totally irreverent, and I think most people would understand why.

So as you can see, I might not be as liberal as some of my peers on the issue of gun control. However, I personally loathe firearms. They aren't going away anytime soon, and as long as our leaders have them, I feel a little bit safer if the general populace can have them too.

1 comment:

JoeC said...

I'm so glad to see another liberal who doesn't want to rush out and banish all guns. I mean, didn't we banish cocaine a long time ago (don't know when, but it's been a longggg time since it was an ingredient in Coca-Cola...), and, no kidding, believe it or not, yep...there's STILL cocaine on the streets! ;-) It would just be the same with guns. We deserve a better answer to the problem of gun deaths.

P.S. I really like the subjects and the views you're expressing here. I've added you to the blogroll over at Hard-boiled Dreams of the World, and I'm looking forward to dropping by and reading often. Keep up the great work!