Just a few minutes to throw up a quick post. Within this past week we have seen several incidents in public places in which innocent people have lost their lives to rampaging gunmen. Sadly these are not the first time we have witnessed such tragedies and nor will they be the last.
The usual responses are being floated around. Some people want to ban guns and others are advocating that more people be allowed to carry them. I am troubled by the black and white response. I don't know if it is just because these are knee jerk responses or what, but there is a middle ground here.
I don't claim to have the answer. This is just old Jack composing on the fly. No editing, no careful consideration so take it for what is is worth.
I am in favor of gun ownership and gun control. There is no reason why people shouldn't be allowed to own guns, but then again I don't see a reason why they should have military grade weaponry around their homes either.
The old line that heroes are made. not born is one that has a lot of truth in it. You don't know what you'll do in a particular situation until you are in it. You can be trained for all sorts of situations, but you can't always guarantee that you will respond in the appropriate manner.
We can speculate for hours as to what would have happened at VA Tech, Columbine or the Mall in Omaha if someone would have had a gun. Maybe they would have stopped them. Maybe lives would have been saved. It is a real possibility.
The security guard in Colorado is a former cop. To me that makes her different than the random citizen who might be carrying a weapon.
Speaking of that, I get antsy when people start talking about how G-d was on their side. It just bothers me that some people start saying they acted a certain way because G-d told them to. Too many times we see people who are diametrically opposed ideologically claim that G-d is on their side.
Must make for an awkward situation at parties.
8 comments:
That bothers me too. So the people who lived through the ordeal say G-d was on their side, but I guess the people who didn't make it, didn't have him on their side???
your right on.
god gets blamed whenever its convinient
great post Jack...I agree with all that you said (I guess that's why it's a great post:)
Jack, I'm a random citizen that shoots really tight groups. I carry concealed more often than I used to. I carry way more often than I want to.
I pray that my weapons will be safe and that they are handled safely.
I pray that I will never be called to shoot somebody.
I pray that if I ever am called on that I will shoot straight, stop the evil and hurt no one accidentally. I ask for the wisdom to make the right choices.
Gunfights in the Lord's house sicken me. I can't even imagine what that must be like. But look at how often it happens.
I know many folks have been indignant about the stuff in Colorado. I'm just sad about it.
Pam, that logic makes me want to vomit. We live in an evil fallen world. Bad things happen to good people. That doesn't mean we should not give thanks for the good things.
I agree that it is quite odd that people seem to think that only the two extreme positions - banning guns outright or arming the entire population - will solve the problem.
Personally, I think that guns are a red herring that are distracting people from an honest examination of the examination of the problem.
IMHO, the bigger issue is what's broken in the culture that makes human life so disposable. Sweden has a very high suicide rate but you don't see angry or unhappy people taking others with them when they go.
You have countries that have very low gun ownership where these kind of rampages seldom occur... and you also have countries (like Israel) where nearly every household has access to at least one gun, yet rarely experience gun-related violence.
I don't know what the answer is for solving the US's problem, but somehow I think those who are looking only at the guns and not at those using them are missing something important.
Pam,
It really doesn't make a lot of sense.
Schmuck,
Seems that way.
CM,
Thanks.
We live in an evil fallen world
BWH,
We disagree on this point. I don't believe in original sin. I don't believe that we are all sinners.
There may be a lot of bad, but there is an awful lot of good too.
Trep,
You said it well. It is very convenient to assign blame to guns or to some other easily found bogeyman.
Guns have been in private citizens hands since the founding of this country. It is only in relatively recent times that we have seen so many cases of people going ballistic and killing people.
In the past I think that were fewer cases. My suspicion is that media coverage is part of why this is becoming more prevalent.
I'm not sure that I could come up with a politically correct comment for the press after witnessing mass murder. I'll have to work on that one (seriously!).
FP,
I hear you.
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