Friday, April 20, 2007
Guns
I suppose I should add my little voice to the torrent of pro-antigun rhetoric. Simply put, I'm for gun ownership if you want one. In fact, any weapon you want to own is fine with me. Where I draw the line is what you do with that weapon. The kid in Virginia was already identified as a nutcase - and he is one who shouldn't be owning a weapon. But that doesn't mean no one should own a weapon.
One thing to think about is that had a couple of law-abiding students, teachers or guards, been packing guns, the whole VTI thing could've ended up much differently. Think about what would have happened if that kid's first stop was in a marksmanship class where everyone was armed. I think the body count would have been much smaller.
One of the cliches that I believe in is, "guns don't kill people, people kill people." And it's true. You put a loaded gun in the middle of a room full of people and nothing's going to happen unless someone stupid picks up the gun and shoots someone - preferably himself. That gun will sit there until it rusts into a pile of ferric oxide and no one will be hurt.
What I'd like to see is a clampdown on gun crime. Do a crime, any crime, even stealing a slice of stale bread and if you have a gun with you I'd like to see a minimum of 25 to life. Hurt someone with the gun, and I don't care if you drop it and the victim trips over it, you get life - period. A gun can be a deadly force, just like a knife or baseball bat. If you pick one up, you need to acknowledge certain responsibilities. Like I said, I see no problem with owning a gun as long as you're prepared to accept the responsibilities of ownership.
To me there's no such thing as an "accidental shooting." If you're holding a gun and it goes off, you're responsible. Every time I pick up a gun, I consider it loaded and I don't point it towards anything (or anybody) I don't intend on shooting. I don't care if you've just rebuilt it and it's still warm from a bluing bath, I consider it loaded until I check for sure. If you're carrying a gun and trip and shoot someone, you're responsible (unless you're a vice-president) because it wasn't an accident.
