Do guns kill people or do people kill people? How long has this been debated? Probably long before anyone talked about the Brady bill. Do you remember that one. March 31, 1981, President Reagan shot, but not killed, by John Hinckley, Jr. Reagan’s press secretary James Brady blocked the bullet intended for the president, taking a shot in the head. In 1993, Bill Clinton signed the bill into law, requiring background checks before the sale of a gun is final.
So no one else has been killed by a gun, right? I’m not suggested the Brady law doesn’t work. It probably deters a few from buying a gun. But let’s be honest, it law was passed as a symbolic gesture to show how much lawmakers can do to protect people from gun wielding maniacs. If someone wants to kill with a gun, they’re going to.
As for gun rights, the 2nd amendment gives us the right to keep and bear arms. Why? To protect ourselves. If you don’t want one, fine. If you do, no one can say no.
Here’s the dilemma. Guns are dangerous. They aren’t toys. They need to be locked up when not in use. Bad things will happen if they aren’t used safely. Period. Kids get a hold of one; they might wind up dead. If a mentally unbalanced person gets one, like John Hinckley, Jr., it’s bad news.
We don’t need more gun laws. We need to start talking about mental health in this country. How many more people need to get killed by troubled souls before we do something. Oh yah, build some more prisons. That’ll fix everything. Lock ‘em up. We’ll build more.
Really? We need to remove the stigma from the “shrink”. It’s no different than going the doctor when you’re coughing up green snot. But people don’t go because of what “they’ll say ‘bout me.” So what do they do, they pick up a bottle or some weed, or keep silent. Does that help? Maybe for the night, but they never escape their demons. Mr. Hyde is still there the next day ready for the dark…
Then what happens? Timothy McVeigh, Columbine, the Batman movie massacre, Sandy Hook Elementary, Dylann Roof...you get the idea. Let’s at least try to end this madness by talking about emotional health. Fight the urge to get even; forgive, get better, have some compassion!