I've been reading several of the diaries posted by gun owners in response to the Sandy Hook massacre. Though I understand your defense of the 2nd Amendment and points about the need for mental health care, I just don't get the ... how can I put it? The inability to see beyond your own needs and perspective.
Most of the RKBAers on the site say they are liberals. If so, you believe in collective responsibility, in the powerful making sacrifices for the powerless. That's why we support health care reform -- so everyone pays into a system that helps everyone. That's why we support progressive taxation -- so that the privileged can give a little bit more to provide services to those who can't afford to pay more.
Well, gun owners, you have all the power.
That's right. You claim that you're under siege and that your rights will be taken from you at any moment. But, face it, the law has been on your side for decades. The Supreme Court has affirmed your individual right to bear arms.
You are the powerful. You are "the man" in this situation.
Can you name anyone you know who has had a gun "taken away"?
Not gonna happen.
So, my plea is that you be willing to think beyond yourself and your needs to consider the defenseless people who are gunned down on a daily basis.
That you be willing to sacrifice owning guns with multiple rounds, large magazines, military style just to get them out of circulation -- and make them less popular.
Do it for the members of our society who are begging for change. Who are more afraid of YOU than they are of our supposedly gargantuan government.
Keep your "cold dead hands" on your handgun or simple rifle. Own 10 or 20 of them if you'd like.
Just be willing to give up the type of guns that allow the mentally troubled to mow down other human beings in a matter of seconds.
I'd rather live in a society with no guns, but I accept the reality of their existence. I'm willing to give up some measure of my own personal safety -- and that of my kids -- so YOU can bear arms. What are you willing to give up? How are you willing to change?