ScottSevener.com

Like a lot of people, I’ve spent the last couple of days thinking about the horrible tragedy that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School and what we’re supposed to do as a society to move forward from this type of thing that keeps happening over and over again. Obviously the topic of gun control is a very hot debate and I’m trying my best to keep an open mind about it, but … at this point I find myself particularly dumbstruck by our country’s fascination with these deadly weapons even in the wake of a shooting that took the lives of kindergartners.

KINDERGARTNERS – 20 of them, plus another 6 of their educators, were killed at 9:35am at their place of learning in the most horrific shootings of the year, and yet the next day it was reported that gun sales surged to record levels, including the very same model assault rifle that the shooter used in his senseless rampage.

Seriously, what kind of person goes out and BUYS A GUN the day after a shooting???

I’ve tried to see the other side of this, but I just don’t see where guns having any redeeming qualities to our society anymore other than killing. Americans carry multiple times more guns than any other nation on Earth, and as a result we also see multiples more gun-related deaths. And yet now some people have the nerve to suggest that teachers should be carrying weapons to protect their students from these kinds of things?!

Why does every gun-toting muscle head in this country think that he has to be FUCKING RAMBO?!?!?!

More guns are not the solution to our problem, and although I won’t go so far as to say that all guns should be banned, I really don’t see why anyone not in the military should be carrying around these types of weapons anymore because clearly they’re just way too dangerous to have available for public consumption. And I’m sorry if you’re a passionate gun enthusiast who takes a great deal of joy in collecting and using these firearms in the privacy of your own home, but from time to time we as a society recognize things that are simply too dangerous to the public as a whole to be legal – you can’t keep a nuclear bomb in your garage just because you happen to be interested in nuclear fission no more than is doing meth legal even if you’re just really passionate about methamphetamines.

I’m so tired of hearing the lazy excuse that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” because it’s just an empty metaphor that people use to hide behind why we shouldn’t take their guns away. The point is, if Adam Lanza’s mother didn’t have all of these deadly weapons in her house, that would’ve been one more hoop that he’d have had to jump through before shooting her in the head and then proceeding to her school to start killing schoolchildren, too. Sure, maybe he would’ve obtained a gun elsewhere instead, but every gun at one point starts as a legal firearm – stop making them not only legal to buy, but also legal to sell and you can actually start to cut the problem off at its source.

I don’t understand why Americans love their guns so much. And yes, I’ve shot a gun before – many times at scout camp growing up – but that activity always took place under careful supervision and with the utmost respect. That’s why I don’t believe in an entire ban on firearms altogether, but as for assault weapons (or whatever you want to call them – let’s not argue about semantics over mass-killing weapons), after 20 school kids died last week frankly I think that’s enough to say that owning these types of weapons simply is no longer an acceptable hobby in the United States of America.

And as for the second amendment … good god, where do we even begin with this one? Our forefathers wrote that when muskets and canons were their most advanced weapons – in no way do I believe that our right to keep and bear arms entitles us to bear any type of weapons that we damn well please (see above, nuclear bombs). And besides, if the intent is to protect us against a government uprising, who are you really fooling thinking that even a cache of assault rifles is going to do you a lick of good if the US military comes knocking at your door?!

We spend almost $700 billion on the military every year – more than the next 15 countries on the list COMBINED!!! Your little assault rifle would be like taking a flyswatter to the sun, even if you happen to be waving the Bill of Rights in your other hand…

Besides, I guess I’m also baffled as to how a group of people can be so openly patriotic while also completely in fear of their own government to think that they need to arm themselves against such tyranny. What faith does that place in your own country if you don’t think the police can do a good enough job protecting you that you feel the need to wield these deadly weapons yourself??? Maybe that’s just a Republican mentality that I’ll never really understand, how folks can be simultaneously proud of their country and also in constant fear of it at the same time – if you don’t think that our armed forces are sufficient or are in fear that the White House is turning into Nazi Germany, then why still wave the same flag in the first place?

It’s sad that we’ve gotten to this point, but just as equally embarrassing that funerals for school kids have been taking place over the last week at the same time that Americans are rushing out to buy their own assault rifles in fear that Obama is going to take them all away.

You know what? Maybe he should. Maybe assault rifles should be made illegal, turn-in periods should be mandatory, and the criteria for “assault weapons” should be broadened enough so that gun zealots can’t hide behind “that’s not an assault weapon” or “this isn’t really an assault weapon, either” when we’re all talking about weapons that should be found only in an active war zone, not in somebody’s collection and certainly not within the halls of an elementary school.

Don’t like it – what’s your better idea??? And we’re talking about actual suggestions, not simply deflections to the media or violent video games to get people to focus on anything except the weapons that killed those little kids. People shouldn’t have to rely on armed guards and random strangers open carrying to keep them safe in this country – that certainly doesn’t sound very free to me.