The wringing of hands is bullshit, and total dereliction of community responsibility by public officials. They seem to believe that such statements as “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Families”, somehow exempts them from actually doing anything about the pervasive and, quite honestly, uncivilized issue of gun control in the U.S. It is tempting to throw up your hands, and say that if shooting classrooms full of kids, church congregations, rock-concert attendees, presidents and women in massage parlours doesn’t produce action on gun control, nothing will. But we have to try.
Yesterday, Ten (10) people were KILLED in a supermarket. The fact that the supermarket in question happens to be my local supermarket, which we frequent, at least weekly, makes it more poignant. That’s far too close for comfort.
A TV news reporter last night said, “ten people passed away”. “PASSED AWAY? NO. They were brutally murdered by some moron with an assault rifle.
The Federal Prosecutor, who was interviewed on site, said they had yet to establish the motive. I would maintain that it may be of interest to know the motive but, fundamentally, it doesn’t matter.
It really doesn’t matter if he was mentally retarded, had a horrible, abusive, childhood, was an NRA fanatic, was a terrorist, or was just plain crazy. He KILLED 10 innocent people with an assault rifle.
As I was listening to the Federal Prosecutor, it occurred to me that establishing a motive is actually preparing the future defence lawyer’s platform. A plea of insanity immediately comes to mind. It doesn’t matter. He KILLED 10 innocent people with an assault rifle.
Talking to a normally sensible, and caring, friend this morning, the regurgitation of NRA indoctrination surfaced almost immediately. “Well, if we let them take away our guns, it will set the scene for restricting all our rights”.
Why don’t sensible people realize that this argument is pure NRA indoctrination? The people espousing this nonsense have been brain-washed and hypnotized by years of NRA propaganda, and they don’t even realize what they’re saying most of the time. It’s a Pavlovian response.
Time to wake up and think for yourself.
THE U.S. CONSTITUTION DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS.
It guarantees the right to bear arms as part of a duly constituted State Militia. The concept originated from a time when one state invading another was a real, or at least perceived real, possibility. The NRA has worked hard, and successfully, to conveniently eliminate the “State Militia” part of the U.S. Constitution in many State Constitutions. Therefore, under state law in many places, the individual does have that right, but it’s a fraud perpetrated by the NRA.
If the U.S. Constitution is properly interpreted, the whole idea of an individual’s right to bear arms, is nonsense. Also, in practical terms, when the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was written, there were no automatic, or semi-automatic weapons. It took several minutes to reload a one-shot rifle. With today’s weapons, you can KILL over a hundred people in that time. The Forefathers anticipated that? I sincerely doubt it.
The other issue that has a bearing on gun control is individual rights versus community responsibility. I have said before that, when the U.S. Constitution was written, the country was rural. It’s now urban, and community rights should supersede individual rights. Individual rights overriding community responsibility, in an urban setting, is anarchy, and extremely dangerous. This dichotomy demands a Constitutional rethink.
It’s time all public figures got off their fat asses, told the NRA that they no longer need their money, and started thinking about the welfare of their constituents as a community.
It’s bad enough that the U.S. is an international laughing-stock among civilized countries over gun control. The fact that individual rights take precedent over community responsibility may well destroy the nation, and that is a concern of a whole different level. Wringing of hands is bullshit, and diverts community responsibility.
