Tuesday, June 14, 2016

We've Tried No Gun Control. Let's Try Gun Control Instead


In 2013, I was invited to Easter dinner in the country. I was surprised immediately after dinner when all the menfolk went outside to target shoot. Not wanting to be a disagreeable guest, I fired two shots at the target (near bulls-eye shots) with a Canadian-made, Para-Ordnance 40 caliber pistol. (I stopped shooting because my aim could only deteriorate.) I was even more surprised when they brought out an AR-15 assault rifle (like the one used in Orlando, but with a smaller, California-legal magazine, rather than the behemoth magazine popular with Florida mass killers). We didn't fire it, because it started raining.

I submit there is something seriously F****d up about society when one's first reaction to an Easter dinner invitation is to say "Great! Let's bring an assault rifle!" Americans are way, way too comfortable with lethal firepower.

There will always be reasons for people to want to kill other people. That is a constant in history. The only thing we can do as a society is make sure these angry people don't have the firepower. Like civilized societies all over the world already do.

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