Ever since the unfortunate massacre at Newtown CT last month and in Webster NY a couple of weeks ago, we have been bombarded by the media about reasons why we should and shouldn’t have gun control.  I have debated this issue heavily with my friends on Facebook as well as in person.  I want to make it very clear these views are mine and mine only.  Any other member of my family is free to express their own whether I may like it or not.  You are more than welcome to leave comments.  If you decide to, please do me a favor…keep it civil.  Thanks!

I am for gun control.

I don’t believe assault weapons have a place in society.  My definition of an assault weapon is one that is high powered and can fire off a large barrage of bullets in the shortest amount of time.  These are military style weapons whose sole purpose is to kill people while at war or engaged in a hostile situation.  I call them military style because they were  originally designed for military purposes but later adapted for civilian use.  The civilian use may be perfectly legal and one without loopholes or, it may be where there is a law that required circumventing.

I see no reason for magazines or clips that hold more than 6 bullets.  Why 6?  That was how many in the so called six-shooters of the wild west.  I will go out on a limp and compromise.  Lets say at the most…10.  The shooter at Newtown had a 30 bullet magazine that could be emptied in 15 seconds.  I  am hearing people say they like to hunt with them.  Well sadly, if you need that many bullets to kill a deer, you must be one heck of a lousy shooter.  The frontiersmen of the old days were able to get by with a single shot rifle.

Arming teachers and school personnel is not the answer for protecting kids in school.  These people’s jobs are to educate, not protect.  Many of them are probably terrified to handle a weapon.  If you want to arm them, give them something they will use…a taser or pepper spray.  Or put armed security personnel in the schools and hope they are not the first ones to be taken out.

We definitely need more background checks especially at the private level.  Background checks have to be equal and uniform throughout the US.  These background checks must also include mental health tests.  With the proliferation of electronic medical records, it shouldn’t be too difficult to access this information.  We also need stiffer penalties for those who try to skirt the requirement.  A few years in prison should deter anyone from trying to get around this.

The NRA needs to stop sugar coating the issue.  Newtown was because a law abiding citizen kept a collection of guns accessible by a law abiding citizen.  The shooter was law abiding until the very last second when he killed a law abiding citizen.  And autism is NOT a mental health issue that causes people to turn violent.  Furthermore, the NRA needs to stop its hypocrisy.  They claimed that violent video games promote the killing of others with weapons yet, they released one of their own and call it target practicing.  I am sorry folks…a gun is a gun, a bullet is a bullet, shooting is shooting…the target may look different but no better or worse than the next.

Now, I don’t have a problem with someone owning a gun for the purposes of protecting their own home.  I believe that is the framework the Founding Fathers had in mind when they drafted the Second Amendment.  I don’t believe they ever thought it was possible for a rifle to evolve from a single shot and load to a semi-automatic killing machine firing 30 rounds in 15 seconds.  You know, what is interesting is they say we have the right to bear arms but they never said we had the right to bear cannons.  Perhaps, cannons were the assault weapon of that time they didn’t want people to have.  We’ll never know.

For those of you who are my friends and do not agree with me, I pray that you or anyone close to you is not impacted by someone who takes advantage of what you disagree with.  I sometimes wonder how you would think or feel if that was the case.