America has a problem. The problem is that Americans, as a whole, are unwilling to look at a situation objectively and come to a reasoned and practical solution. In this case, I'm talking about the recent mass shootings and the debate around gun control.
I'll be up front. I don't own any guns, nor do I plan to in the near future. I do, however, believe in The Constitution and all of it's Amendments, specifically, the 2nd. In my view, we'd still be a British Colony had guns in the hands of the public not allowed us to fight for our Independence. I also feel that in a free country, you assume certain risks for your freedoms. One of them is that occasionally someone is going to make a mistake and/or abuse their rights and harm someone.
The debate around gun control based on these incidents is like outlawing wheat because people are allergic. The analogy isn't perfect but you get the drift. Many, many people own firearms legally, use the safely and live productive lifetimes with them around. They're a tool, and tools, when used properly, are a benefit to society.
Here's the question that I ask myself: If someone walked into a crowded theater and began hitting people with a baseball bat, would I we be wanting to ban baseball? No. We wouldn't. Swords? No. Heck, if we extended the current thinking, we'd be banning forks because we're overweight.
The real problem is how we treat each other and how we, as human beings, value other life. Something was and is clearly wrong with the individuals who perpetrated these events. They clearly valued other human lives very little and their own even more. We should be investigating how and why we weren't able to identify and treat these individuals for their problems prior to their actions.
Personally, I do blame my fork. Of course, when I don't lose weight after the fork ban, I'll have to ban my fingers as well because I'll still eat more than I should.
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