Gun control does not work as someone with a criminal mindset will just procure one illegally. Look at the crime rates in Australia as a result of removing all guns. Home invasions with a firearm and while the home owner is present jumped 300%. That means they quadrupled! If someone is willing to rob a bank they will buy a gun in order to do it. If they are deranged enough to look at a screaming, crying 5 year old child and shoot them they will have no problem buying an illegal weapon to do it. Look to Australia and their, nearly doubled, crime rate after making guns illegal. In 2007 the total number of homicides by guns was right at 9000 but the total number of suicides was almost 33000. With over half of those coming from firearms. Did anyone lose their shit over this? No. Did you hear even ONE politician on mainstream media point out how big a deal this is? No. Instead we talk about gadgets, money, and war. This disgusts me to no end.
This is not meant to detract from the tragedies that have occurred via mass shootings over the years but it does point to a greater problem. Our mental health-care needs some drastic improvement and that doesn't mean just handing out more drugs. Real help for real people. We are going to get more coverage for people as the health-care laws go into effect but that doesn't mean the quality of care will improve. It needs to on all levels. Nearly every mass shooting has been committed by a person with mental issues requiring much more than Kleenex Tissues.
As far as gun control goes look at the studies done on violent crime rate compared to the percentage of gun owners and you will see the countries with higher gun ownership have less crime committed with guns. Understood there are numerous social and economical differences that can't be accounted for numerically, like Sweden's mandatory service laws, but you would be surprised how much of a difference it makes when the criminal element knows most people are carrying a firearm. Removing guns does not equate to removing crime. How any thinking person can somehow come to that conclusion is mind boggling. In our very own state this was proven.
For some Georgia news in 1982, Atlanta suburb Kennesaw required all households to have a gun. The residential burglary rate subsequently dropped 89 percent in Kennesaw, compared to the modest 10.4 percent drop in Georgia as a whole. Ten years later the residential burglary rate in Kennesaw was still 72 percent lower than when the ordinance was passed. I am NOT advocating this as a solution (I think it was actually fairly irresponsible to force people to have a gun in the home) merely using it to point the flawed thinking that removing guns will somehow make us safer.
Researcher Gary Kleck found that 92 percent of criminal attacks are deterred when a gun is merely shown (or, rarely, a warning shot fired). By inference, this means that open carry would have the effect of deterring crime in the same way that a thief might choose another restaurant when he sees police eating at his intended target. A 1985 Department of Justice survey of incarcerated felons reported that 57 percent of the felons polled agreed that "criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police." (I would love to quote a more recent source but we don't poll inmates that often, this is probably something we should do more of)
There are 135 million gun owners in this country and over 300 million people in it. That means only 43% of the country owns guns and those that do own an average 2 firearms. We have nearly made them a taboo in some states and thankfully the supreme court turns over the no handgun laws. When open carry laws were passed each and every state saw reduced crime rates for everything from theft and rape to murder and grand larceny. If we make firearms a taboo we shouldn't be surprised when the criminal or mentally distressed persons make exclusive use of them. We are the most violent and destructive race on the planet, violence is almost second nature to us.
I think we are moving in the right direction with the decriminalization of naturally existing drugs, nearly universal health-care, and allowing medical research that was once banned. I think that we should educate people more, teach better ways of dealing with life from a young age, advance people's personal liberties, ensure basic needs are met, and show true concern for our neighbors that we had only a few generations ago. If we can even just start a few of these things in the coming year this country will change drastically. I believe for the better.
There are a lot of financial, medical, environmental, social, and governmental reforms that need to happen in this country but we can do it over time. For the sake of our fellow countrymen and children we must. This was made painfully evident to me when traveling overseas with the Navy. I learned why a lot of cultures do not like the way we do things and I saw other ways to live, love, and learn. Some of these things are on a federal level but a lot of things can be done on the local level. Our society has lost sight of a lot of hard learned lessons. We almost love to hate one another and it is tragic.
We need to stop forcing l people into cliques and alienating the different groups from one another. Compassion and mutual respect comes through understanding; but, fear, hate, and violence comes from alienation. Nowhere is that more evident than our political system and it spreads like a disease to all aspects of our society. This is not some hippy-dippy call for peace and tree hugging. This is meant to be a wake-up call for our country and the world as a whole. Let it be known that all the statements above are not reasons why anyone is wrong but rather things I believe to be true. If you think your ideas are true and mine are false then explain them. I have been wrong many times before and am not afraid to admit it. Healthy debate has been lost in our everyday society, let's change that. Also I apologize for the painful mental image afforded in the first paragraph but it was necessary to convey the point. It disgusts me to even think about it for a moment btw it is something we all must do. Thanks for listening to my stream of consciousness. Some sites you may want to look at as a food for thought are below. Both sides of the fence are supported below.
Removing all guns from society is obviously not the answer. One look at the numbers in Austraila cited above shows that. But what about these semi-automatic assault weapons? I can see both sides of the argument. I've shot an AR-15 myself (it is a fun one to shoot!). And maybe my view is skewed bc I have small children but a madman armed with a .22 revolver or shotgun is going to do far less damage than with an AR-15 loaded with bullets designed to inflict maximum damage. Just a thought...
ReplyDeleteI recently read this article http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/nine-facts-about-guns-and-mass-shootings-in-the-united-states/
ReplyDeleteBut the AR-15 carries a .223 rd. Do you want to ban the gun cause it looks badass or is it the ammunition that it carries?
I never said I wanted to ban the gun. I don't think the gun itself is the issue and I completely agree with the above statements about the sad state of mental health in our country. Even ammunition size isn't really the issue because there are hunting rifles that use larger ammo. However, I don't see the need for a 30-round magazine. It would at least slow these psychos down a bit...
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