Let me start by saying I am 100 percent behind people owning guns. This isn’t about trying to take away anyone’s gun, so please don’t try to make it about that. I am just trying to think of a way to a least slow down all this senseless tragedy. Sadly, there is probably no way to stop it completely, but we need to do something besides just give up. Yet we should still allow people to own guns, because in this day and age, they are a necessary evil, and responsible people have the right own pistols and rifles for recreation and protection.
I had a discussion with my co-workers today about this, and all of them seem to think that it is a waste of time to try to do anything when it comes to guns. Yet I have heard every one of them comment in sorrow and anger about these needless tragedies that seem to be occurring more and more frequently. So what do we do? Admit defeat and accept it as part of life. Arm ourselves to the hilt and hope we can protect our loved ones. Try teaching people better gun safety. Maybe that’s what society wants to do. It just doesn’t seem to be working very well right now the way it is.
I think the biggest problem is that no one trusts that our government has our best interest at heart, which I would have to agree with. This makes people very hesitant to do anything when it comes to guns if it has to require a law to make it work. And yes, I know there are tons of laws out there concerning gun control, and yet we still have this problem. But that’s where the problem lies: you can’t control the guns, and you shouldn’t even try to. As everyone knows, the gun isn’t the problem; the person using the gun is the problem. And as we all know, criminals don’t care about laws, and at this time, it is very easy for them to find a gun.
So this is what I suggest. Instead of trying to control guns or criminals, let’s try to work with the law-abiding people since they are the ones that can be reasoned with and should be willing to follow a law to help the community to be a safer place. The type of law that I am thinking of would make it more difficult (but not impossible) for criminals and mentally unstable people to get a gun while still allowing law-abiding citizens to have all the guns they want, a law that holds someone accountable if they behave in a negligent way that allows someone to get a gun and use it in a crime.
I’m sure a large portion of gun owners will look at this as them being penalized for owning a gun. What you need to realize is that you’re not going to be penalized if you don’t do something that can be considered by a jury of your peers to be negligent. This should be looked at as more of an incentive to do what all responsible gun owners should consider the right thing when it comes to gun safety.
Don’t look at this as being picked on just because you own a gun. After all, if you choose to drink and drive and you kill or hurt someone, you are held responsible for your choices there. If you want to own a gun, then own the responsibility that comes with owning that gun.
If any of you are wondering if I own a gun, I don’t, but as I wrote earlier, I think responsible people have every right to own a gun. But people that choose to not own a gun have right to expect that people that do own guns are going to be responsible with the way they control that gun.
As I wrote earlier, I know this isn’t going to fix everything when it comes to guns but it might slow down the ones that shouldn’t have guns a little. And if we don’t at least try to do something, where will we end up?
David Johnson
St. George
