Gunning for the gun

Sometimes I wonder what a person was thinking when they come up with ridiculous ideas. Does not help my sanity, but I do wonder all the same. The guy who made the guillotine and the sadist who designed assault guns. And moronic,immature parents like those who gave their 11-year-old a gun for protection. The kid used it at recess to threaten his classmates.

Everyone has voiced their opinions on gun violence. I have only one- get rid of the damn things altogether. Why do we need them at all? Those who want hunt - develop your damn skills to shoot and use a bow and arrow! You are doing it for fun anyway. Though what kind of fun it is killing something that is not bothering you is beyond me. Maybe the mental disease aspect starts there. I think there is only a very fine line between going into the wild to shoot unsuspecting animals and going into a mall and shooting unsuspecting shoppers. (Shooting kids is something too raw for me to talk about.)

I understand the need for protection. Unfortunately the same  things that we choose for protection are the ones that hurt and kill.  Why do we equalize protecting ourselves with hurting the person we need protection from? Offence and defense are two entirely different things, and must be kept that way. Of course there are cases when one needs to kill an attacker, preferably before he/ she gets set off. If we could redo things I would have no problem executing Adam Lanza. I would not have a problem incarcerating his mother either. It is criminal irresponsibility to have guns in the house with a disturbed boy.  But you do not need an iron contraption triggering little bits of metal at high fatal speeds to protect yourself. A well- placed kick, a Taser, pepper spray, a knife.....and according to airport security, nail cutters apparently!  I know my suggestion sounds simplistic, but evil will exist and we have to deal with it without becoming evil ourselves. Having more guns to offset the danger of ones that are already there is not the answer.

Guns make it easy to kill. The lack of direct physical contact with victims creates a disconnect which eases whatever qualms a psychotic lunatic might have.  (Yes, barring gun-totting on a job like in law enforcement, everyone in possession of a gun IS a lunatic. And even with responsible officers, we have too many accidental firing of guns). Pulling the trigger is simple, quick and horribly efficient. The only time for that proficiency is to prevent a heinous act or in the course of justice.

Nothing is perfect. We are flawed creatures living in an imperfect world.  There are defects and disease in our society and in individuals. But nothing ever was, or ever will be, solved by arming  ourselves. Guns are not recreation, and if you think it is you are one of those I have no problem putting in jail preemptively. Guns are not protection, they provide only a threat of damage, and that safeguards nobody. Guns are certainly not a deterrent. A deterrent to violence cannot be a thing that brings about that very type of violence. It is like the stupid idea that we should have nuclear weapons to prevent a nuclear war. ( No, idiots. The way to prevent a nuclear war is NOT to have nuclear anything) Guns are not a right.When driving is not a right, there is no reality in which having a gun is a right. We took away segregation, now its time to take away this ridiculous 2nd amendment.

My solution is drastic but needed. All guns, unless they are for law enforcement, need to be taken and melted to make, I don't know, decorative sculpture or train tracks. Let us get rid of guns, then maybe we will get rid of the idea that we need to be able to hurt to defend.