Logic and Reasoning

As everyone across the United States knows the Town of Newtown in Connecticut was the sight of a horrific tragedy. A monster unleashed his wrath on over 2 dozen innocent people, most of which were children. Children who were just starting their lives and held no ill contempt against anyone. My comments here are not in any way shape or form meant to show disrespect to the victims, the ones who died or the ones left scared with the memories of the days events the remainder of their lives. I have spent a lot of time in prayer for the families the lost loved ones, the families of those who survived as well as the police, medical staff and other emergency personnel who were forced to witness a scene that is nothing short of heart breaking. My comments are about the knee jerk reaction of our elected officials and citizens of the United States of America.

The day of the shooting I was working for the local police department two towns south of Newtown. You can only imagine the atmosphere in the building as we all listened in horror to the radio transmissions during the days events. While I don't live in Newtown or have direct ties to anyone involved I felt tied to each and every person as I went through the day seeing the toll it took on those around me. I am not a disconnected right winger. I am a parent who would give my life to save not only my family but the life of a stranger as well. I have been put in a position to draw a weapon on a sorry excuse for a human being but at the end of the day I struggled with the fact that no matter how evil the being was they were still a human and the severity of the situation was not taken lightly either in the moment or in the hours afterwords.

As most of my regular readers know I am an avid sportsman and owner of multiple types of firearms. I am not writing this just for my personal justification, I am writing this because I was raised to use logic and reasoning, something that is obviously not being done in the wake of this tragedy.

Within hours of the media reporting (if you want to call their constant inconsistencies reporting) the shooting lawmakers were already touting the fact that more gun control is needed. I ask you what does gun control have to do with an evil individual taking innocent lives? Yes, he used a gun to perform his act of violence but what is the difference between him using a gun, a knife or a car? Would it have made it any better if he waited in the parking lot and when the crowd of people exited the building he drove the vehicle into the mass running them over in his attempt to kill as many as possible? No, it wouldn't have. It still would have been a cowardly act resulting in the loss of innocent lives. If he had done it in that manner would these same law makers and citizens be calling for the ban on purchasing and owning vehicles except by the police and government? No, they would be calling on the government to make school grounds safer which is the issue that is before us. Taking away a gun because of it's appearance and the rare instance that some sick individual uses it for evil isn't going to fix anything. Proof can be found by looking into recent history and when I say recent I mean less than 2 weeks ago. A similar act took place in China where a deranged individual went into an elementary school and using a knife killed and maimed almost 2 dozen children.

My point is evil is evil and when one sets out to perform these heinous acts they will find a means whether it involves a firearm, a knife, a motor vehicle, a screw driver, a hammer or any other item that when used properly is harmless but in an instant can be turned into a weapon capable of use in unspeakable ways.

Guns with high capacity magazines are still only capable of firing one round at a time, an act that requires an individual to consciously carry out. These same guns are used in my household to provide meat for my family year after year. Some of them look sleek and menacing but they are used for a purpose, a purpose that the media and lobbyist are overlooking. A .243 round can be used in the middle east by a military sniper to take out the bad guy at 500 yards, it is also the same round that my daughter has shot her last 3 deer with.

As a way to get themselves in the spotlight and act like they care the immediate answer is to outlaw firearms that millions of American citizens enjoy using for sport, hunting and personal protection day after day with out issues. Outlawing the inanimate object isn't going to fix the issue, much like outlawing cocaine and heroin hasn't stopped the rampant use of illicit drugs in this country. Many look at me crazy when I use this analogy but if you stop and think for a moment it is a fitting comparison. Most adult citizens have a motor vehicle, and most of these vehicles are capable of going over 100 miles per hour. With the exception of a few area in the country the average maximum speed limit is 65 miles per hour. In comparison motor vehicles kill more people in the USA in a month than guns kill during a year and there are more guns than there are vehicles in the possession of our citizens. If banning guns and high capacity magazines is the answer to this crime then I would reason that banning any car capable of going over the speed limit will be the answer to solving all the deaths caused by motor vehicles in our country.

The fact of the matter is the multiple high profile shootings that have taken place over the past 10 years have been carried out by sick individuals who had their mind set on causing harm to others. Most of these shooters have illegally obtained the weapons used. The government cannot take away all the weapons that are already in the hands of the masses and if they ever did try I would expect this nation would once again be  thrust into civil war. Bad people don't care about the laws of the country. The fact is we are a nation of people who have become like sheep to the slaughter. We all have been given the most magnificent organ of all living creatures, the human mind. We have the ability to decipher right from wrong and make decisions based upon facts and logic. Unfortunately the masses have become willing to let someone else make the decisions for them and our government has been given the power to act on its own rather than operate as is was originally intended - for the people, by the people.

If you don't want to own a gun then don't but please don't tell me that because you only see a gun as a tool of our military or that of a sick murder that there isn't a reason or purpose that I can't or shouldn't own that gun. Please people, stop and use that brain housed in the top of your head - you will be surprised to find that you possess the ability to think logically and make reasonable decisions on your own.