True Tragedy (Originally posted April 18th, 2007 on myspace)

There is going to be a lot of hand wringing over the next few weeks over the horrific events at Virginia Tech. I just got done watching the NBC nightly news and they were showing the parts of the package that the killer sent in between shootings and I can't shake what I believe to be the real problem or issue that many will ignore. Most will talk about "warning signs" and try to armchair quarterback how the university handled the events on that fateful day. Listen people, we need tougher controls on guns in this country. If you haven't figured it out already, it is way too easy to get guns and ammunition in this country. We are the only civilized country where getting a handgun is as easy as getting a Big Mac. This is what we have in common with third world countries, everybody can get a gun.

We are so gun crazy in the country it is ridiculous. The problem is that we have made it so easy to fulfill a sick fetish that some still have romantic notions about. We are so crazy about our 2nd amendment rights (which by the way, if the framers knew that muzzle loaded guns would evolve into semi-automatic rifles, they probably wouldn't have included that baby in the bill of rights) that if someone brings up putting restrictions on who can by a gun, we go ape shit. At some point in our history we thought it was a good idea to outlaw alcohol, but god forbid that we put restrictions on guns. I'm not idealistic enough to think that we can ban guns from society all together, but do you think that maybe it should be harder to buy a gun than it is to get a driver's license? And you say we are infringing on law abiding citizens to buy guns, shut up. You are basically saying that adding some inconvenience in buying a Glock isn't worth Joe Crazy shooting up a bunch of innocent people.

And please don't give me that crap about criminals either not caring if they break gun control laws or that they buy all of their weapons on the black market. Guns aren't drugs. You can't grow a bunch of semi automatics and then sell them illegally to your neighbors. They are manufactured by companies, who have to sell them somewhere! If you limit their legal sale, it is bound to have some effect on the illegal sale of weapons. It is a trickle down effect, but it will eventually have some good results. And if I'm wrong and guns are going straight from manufacturers to the black market, maybe we should inflict strict penalties on gun companies if their guns are sold illegally. You think the companies would then take some drastic steps to stop guns ending up on the black market?

If you feel it necessary to defend your home with a handgun, great. I know that there are stats out there to support that having a gun in the home can prevent attacks. But what a lot of those studies ignore is that there is no way of telling if alternative measures could have been just has effective, like an alarm system. They also don't tell you if the gun was necessary to defend, if the mere presence of a homeowner or catching an attacker in the act would stop it. Plus you are taking the risk that your kid grabs the gun and kills him or herself.

The only way we are going to end our fascination with guns is to somehow make them unattainable. I've fired guns before and I will admit that there is a sense of power and awe in handling a gun and firing it, but that is when the obsession really takes hold. Let's stop that step from happening, so the obsessions stops at small curiosity and we easily find something else to pass the time, like badminton or something.

I don't have many strong opinions. (Really, I don't.) But I am anti-gun. I just wish that there were more people who were as well; because if we are ever going to stop the tide of violence caused by an all too powerful gun lobby, there is going to have to be a lot of us.