THE WRINGING OF HANDS IS BULLSHIT

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 safety 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 safety, nothing will. But we have to try.

     Earlier this week, 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 that 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. That’s a distraction, and it doesn’t matter. He KILLED 10 innocent people with an assault rifle. That’s what matters.

     Talking to a normally sensible, and caring, friend the following 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. The NRA campaign, and money, has created a Pavlovian response in the gun lobby.

     It’s time to wake up from this hypnotic state, 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 a perceived real, possibility. The NRA has worked hard, and successfully, to conveniently eliminate the “State Militia” part of that sentence in many State Constitutions. Therefore, under state law in many places, the individual does have that right to bear arms, 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 musket. With today’s weapons, you can KILL over a hundred people in that time. The Forefathers anticipated that? I sincerely doubt it.

     The only remnant of those times is the ceremonial militias that some states retain. They dress in the uniforms of that era, and they do carry muskets, as is their right under the Constitution. That’s a far cry from today’s weaponry, but does illustrate the ridiculous current interpretation of the Founding Fathers’ intentions.

     The other issue that has a bearing on gun safety 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. I believe this dilemma 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. The wringing of hands is bullshit, and needs to be replaced with action.

     It’s bad enough that the U.S. is an international laughing-stock among civilized countries, over gun safety. The fact that individual rights take precedent over community responsibility may well destroy the nation, and that’s a concern of a whole different level.

Once again, the wringing of hands is bullshit, and criminally inadequate.