Guns, not for Everyone
Implementation of basic common sense gun regulation is taking too long, at the expense of innocent lives.
September 16, 2015
Lafayette, three. Charleston, nine. Isla Vista, seven. Sandy Hook, 27. Aurora, 12. Virginia Tech, 32. And from just a few weeks ago, Roanoke, two—live on national television.
Following each shooting, the topic of gun control sees another five minutes of fame after five minutes of mourning, only to simmer back down almost instantaneously. Politicians promise to act upon the horrific incidents and never to forget them, but that’s exactly what they seem to be—forgotten. A decisive majority of mass shootings have a few things in common. Being virtually ignored is one.
Being committed at the hands of the mentally ill is the other. Let’s face it: guns just do not belong in some people’s hands.
One thing must be clear. Especially when discussing a subject as touchy as this, it’s important to delineate the difference between correlation and causation. To say that mental illness inclines one to commit public acts of violence is most definitely not the intent behind this column. But we also can’t ignore that the perpetrators of many of history’s massacres haven’t been perfectly sane.
Houser, Roof, Rodger, Lanza, Holmes, Cho, Flanagan. These are names that are sure to ring of infamy throughout history, but—in a sense—through no fault of their own. Had Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza not been inflicted with mental illness, chances are that America would not have had to spill its tears over the lives of 20 children and seven adults. In other words, the blame for these deaths is not necessarily on the hand behind the trigger, but rather on the faulty system that put it there.
The U.S. has been notoriously sloppy about keeping guns out of the wrong hands. On multiple occasions, shooters had not been recognized as potentially violent or mentally ill by their respective state courts, allowing them to slip through the cracks of security and attain firearms. Simply as a result of a lax, nearly nonexistent background check system that failed to be attentive enough to keep track of potentially dangerous criminals, handguns and automatic rifles came into possession by people who should not be carrying weapons in the first place—and the results were horrific.
It’s rather clear that America is getting tired of hearing about gun control, especially when each shooting is followed by Republicans complaining that liberals are only “advancing their political agendas” and “politicizing” tragedies, one can almost be certain of this. There is nothing sadder than citizens ignoring the tragedies of their neighbors for their own selfish desires.
Wake up, lawmakers. The U.S. cannot afford to see lives flying out the window every few weeks in the name of gun-toting, trigger-happy America. It’s about time we stopped worshipping the 2nd Amendment and came to realize that guns—or any other weapon, for that matter—are not for everyone. The dreaded “largest gun grab in America history” (so eloquently coined by the National Rifle Association) cannot come soon enough.
Educated Student
Sep 21, 2015 at 4:24 pm
Concerned Parent,
I truly do respect your opinion,but you are using a hackneyed argument that contains no actual substance. Please consider the following.
First of all, the Second Amendment was ratified in 1791. This amendment was originally attended to help maintain militias for the defense of the state. Chief Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger even said, “the very language of the Second Amendment refutes any argument that it was intended to guarantee every citizen an unfettered right to any kind of weapon he or she desires.” Besides, even if you completely deny the true meaning of the second amendment, you can’t ignore the fact that our society is completely different from that of our Founding Fathers’.
You are throwing the mentally ill under the bus to further the argument. If strong gun control legislation is passed, the severely mentally ill will be unable to obtain weapons with which to commit violence. By attacking gun violence from the weapons side, massacres can be prevented and the rights of the mentally ill can be maintained.
And please, unless you have experienced personal mental illness in your own family, do not write about that subject to get your own beliefs heard.
Concerned Parent
Sep 20, 2015 at 1:11 pm
Eric Hong,
I understand that you have an opinion regarding gun control. However, i think you are one sided to think that gun control will solve these massacres. Unless you have experienced personal mental illness in your own family, please do not write about that subject to get your own beliefs heard.
Regarding guns, this country was built by our great founding fathers, who inserted the 2ND amendment for the sole purpose for the people to protect themselves from a potential tyranical government. To ban or put control on guns is to limit freedom to the people. Hence, you are limiting democracy and giving more power to the government i.e. communism, socialism (soft version of communism), which is where this country is heading. This is not the intent of our founding fathers. People should have a choice!!!!!
You should also research and understand mental illness. Mental illness is the worst illness one can UNFORTUNATELY have. It is not self-inflicting or contributative like a heart attack, where one can control his diets and exercise to get better. It is a lifelong struggle with medications to function a hopefully productive life. The laws for the mentally-illed are not very helpful. If anything, you should spend more time advocating for laws to help and protect these patients.
P.S….Why did you not mention anything about “criminals and illegal aliens i.e. the guy in SF who killed an innocent woman on the pier” using in most cases stolen guns to kill innocent Americans? You should additionally advocate laws to punish these inhumane dirt bags and get them punished appropriately, not living off of our system in jail and/or get them deported back to where they belong. We need more productive citizens who can contribute to America, and not those who destroy our families as you stated in your article.
It is true that all polititians have their own agendas. They ALL are addressing the wrong issues. Guns don’t kill…it’s the PEOPLE i.e. mentally-illed, who are incapable to think for themselves, and the heartless criminals who decide to pull the trigger. Think about it!!!!