I really did not want to write about guns; however, after seeing the crap that has floated through my facebook feed the last couple day that has been posted by people I thought were sane and who I respected - I can stay silent no longer. If you think Sandy Hook was a conspiracy, if you think the President is going to take your guns away, that the President wants to be a dictator or that you are going to fight tyranny with your guns - I have a big problem with you.
The President has proposed some very common sense ideas to control gun violence in our nation. Some of which are background checks for all firearms sales, bans on large capacity magazines and assault rifles.
I do not understand how anyone can be against a background check on every single firearms purchase. Will some people slip through the cracks? Yes, they will; however, it will eliminate a legal way for some very bad people to get a hold of a firearm and could very well prevent a mass shooting.
Bans on large capacity magazines. If you need a magazine that holds thirty rounds to hunt deer, rabbits, squirrels, or other assorted forest creatures and you cannot shoot any of them with your first, second or third shot (if the animal hangs out that long while you are attempting to kill it) then maybe you need a different hobby, glasses or a better scope. Putting more rounds down range is not going to assist you. The only purpose for a high capacity magazine is to put a lot of lead down range quickly and they only time and place you really need to do that is if you are in the middle of a firefight taking place during a war.
The President is not going to take your guns away. Period, not gonna happen. The President is also not going to become a dictator and if you think Sandy Hook was a setup...then you are batshit crazy and shoud have your firearms taken away from you. Please put the tinfoil hats back on and stay in your mom's basement. It will be better for all of us that way.
You need your guns for protection? Protection from what? Are you so afraid to come out of your house that you need to armed like you are walking through Afghanistan? In my 45 years on this planet I have never, ever, felt like I needed to carry a firearm to feel safe. If you are serious that you need it for protection then carry pepper spray or a Tazer...at least that way if you make a mistake the person on the receiving end is not dead.
You need your firearms to fight against tyranny. Really? What tryanny? I am fairly certain that making you get a background check for a hunting rifle is not tyranny. But if you insist on that argument I have to ask you why you call yourself patriotic? You say you need weapons of all kinds to fight the government but then turn around and say how great our country is. This confuses me because I always thought if you armed yourself to fight the government that you were committing treason. You cannot be patriotic if you are arming yourself to fight government tyranny. The two things are mutually exclusive by their nature. Of course, if you want to hold on to that particular fantasy, fine. Let me know how it turns out when that M1 Abrams tank runs you over as you are shooting at it and your body doesn't even feel like a speedbump to the tank crew inside.
Seriously folks - we have a problem in this country. The problem is the glorification of guns. What President Obama has proposed is a start; however, we have a long way to go. The weaponization of America and the gun fetish this country needs to end. I get that people need/want rifles for hunting - but the deer don't shoot back. We need to stop glorifiying these weapons that for all intents and purposes military hardware.