Neo Deist
Th.D. & D.Div. h.c.
Now that I have your attention...
I want to take a moment and explain a few things about me and my views. Some of you have been coming at me for some of my posts, which is fine, and I expect it. I personally don't put much stock in the opinions of anonymous internet posters, so fire away (pun intended)!
I am a US citizen and I grew up in the South. Guns are a part of my culture as I was raised around them. I do sport shooting, hunting (yes we eat what we kill), and as a cop I carry one on duty (and off). There are millions of guns in the US. That is a fact that can't be ignored. People from other countries may say "you should do this or this," but what works where you live might not be so easy to pull off over here. If you did not grow up in the gun culture, you won't understand the gun culture.
Here is the kicker...I wish that guns had never been invented. There, I said it!
However, the reality is that guns were invented, they are everywhere, and there will always be people that want them. Some reasons are legitimate such as sporting, hunting or protection. A vast majority of law abiding citizens fall into those three categories. The US Constitution by way of the 2nd Amendment, grants US citizens the right to own guns. The US Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the land, has affirmed that gun ownership is a citizen's right, although the decision was split 5-4 between the 9 judges. A majority won with 5, so until further notice, that is the LAW. End of argument.
What is not defined by federal law, and is actually left up to each state, is what qualifies as a gun that a citizen can own. Liberal states will say no assault rifles or magazines that hold more than X amount of rounds. Conservative states will say that semi-automatic assault rifles are fine, as are high capacity magazines. It all depends on where you are living in the country. Again, it is cultural.
Now, does John Q. Citizen NEED an AR-15 styled assault rifle? Absolutely not. But that is not the point. It is not about need, but rather what he has the right to own if he so chooses. I could say the same thing about vehicles. No one NEEDS a Porsche, Ferrari or Lamborghini, but people WANT one because...they can.
If there was a magic wand that I could wave and disintegrate every gun on the planet, I would not hesitate. But we live in a world overrun with guns, and so we must live with the hand that was dealt to us. I am a libertarian as far as political affiliation goes, and that is why I defend law abiding gun owners and the 2nd Amendment. If the law changes and it is found to be Constitutional, then I will support it as well.
People are quick to jump up and down, scream and yell when something happens and they don't like it, such as a mass shooting with a gun. Those same people remain silent or reverse their position when it is something that they like or enjoy. For example:
1. Millions of people smoke. Tobacco kills upwards of 500,000 people in the US each year, compared to 30,000 gun deaths. Why aren't those same anti-gun people making a fuss about tobacco, since it kills 17x more people? Because many of them smoke. Don't even think about saying smoking is a personal issue and does not hurt anyone else. Almost 54,000 people die each year because of second hand smoke. That is almost TWICE the amount of deaths caused by guns. Check the CDC if you like.
2. Alcohol kills upwards of 85,000 people in the US each year. That is almost three times as many people vs guns. The same points from #1 apply here.
There is not a universal answer for the gun issue in the US. Groups/regions/states will be divided, no matter what the proposition is. One can only hope that aliens come down, remove all guns, missiles and weapons of war, inform us what the one true religion really is (if any), disintegrate criminals with their green proton phasers, destroy the capacity to create alcohol and tobacco products, cure all diseases, replenish the o-zone, and then finally give us a peaceful planet to live on.
I want to take a moment and explain a few things about me and my views. Some of you have been coming at me for some of my posts, which is fine, and I expect it. I personally don't put much stock in the opinions of anonymous internet posters, so fire away (pun intended)!
I am a US citizen and I grew up in the South. Guns are a part of my culture as I was raised around them. I do sport shooting, hunting (yes we eat what we kill), and as a cop I carry one on duty (and off). There are millions of guns in the US. That is a fact that can't be ignored. People from other countries may say "you should do this or this," but what works where you live might not be so easy to pull off over here. If you did not grow up in the gun culture, you won't understand the gun culture.
Here is the kicker...I wish that guns had never been invented. There, I said it!
However, the reality is that guns were invented, they are everywhere, and there will always be people that want them. Some reasons are legitimate such as sporting, hunting or protection. A vast majority of law abiding citizens fall into those three categories. The US Constitution by way of the 2nd Amendment, grants US citizens the right to own guns. The US Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the land, has affirmed that gun ownership is a citizen's right, although the decision was split 5-4 between the 9 judges. A majority won with 5, so until further notice, that is the LAW. End of argument.
What is not defined by federal law, and is actually left up to each state, is what qualifies as a gun that a citizen can own. Liberal states will say no assault rifles or magazines that hold more than X amount of rounds. Conservative states will say that semi-automatic assault rifles are fine, as are high capacity magazines. It all depends on where you are living in the country. Again, it is cultural.
Now, does John Q. Citizen NEED an AR-15 styled assault rifle? Absolutely not. But that is not the point. It is not about need, but rather what he has the right to own if he so chooses. I could say the same thing about vehicles. No one NEEDS a Porsche, Ferrari or Lamborghini, but people WANT one because...they can.
If there was a magic wand that I could wave and disintegrate every gun on the planet, I would not hesitate. But we live in a world overrun with guns, and so we must live with the hand that was dealt to us. I am a libertarian as far as political affiliation goes, and that is why I defend law abiding gun owners and the 2nd Amendment. If the law changes and it is found to be Constitutional, then I will support it as well.
People are quick to jump up and down, scream and yell when something happens and they don't like it, such as a mass shooting with a gun. Those same people remain silent or reverse their position when it is something that they like or enjoy. For example:
1. Millions of people smoke. Tobacco kills upwards of 500,000 people in the US each year, compared to 30,000 gun deaths. Why aren't those same anti-gun people making a fuss about tobacco, since it kills 17x more people? Because many of them smoke. Don't even think about saying smoking is a personal issue and does not hurt anyone else. Almost 54,000 people die each year because of second hand smoke. That is almost TWICE the amount of deaths caused by guns. Check the CDC if you like.
2. Alcohol kills upwards of 85,000 people in the US each year. That is almost three times as many people vs guns. The same points from #1 apply here.
There is not a universal answer for the gun issue in the US. Groups/regions/states will be divided, no matter what the proposition is. One can only hope that aliens come down, remove all guns, missiles and weapons of war, inform us what the one true religion really is (if any), disintegrate criminals with their green proton phasers, destroy the capacity to create alcohol and tobacco products, cure all diseases, replenish the o-zone, and then finally give us a peaceful planet to live on.
