I been thinking on it brehs. And I'm really coming to the conclusion that this can't just be blamed on Republicans and the NRA. This is really on anyone who supports the Second Amendment (me included). Here's why:
- If you support the 2nd Amendment, that means you are comfortable with instruments of death in the hands of civilians. It's that simple. We ask the same question all the time - "why don't other countries experience this?" Well...do you know how many countries on the planet actually have a constitutional right to bear arms? THREE. The U.S., Mexico, and Guatemala.
- What do "gun control" advocates want? Universal background checks, a prohibition on assault rifles, and the required age to own a gun to be 21. That pretty much sums it up.
- Age - I guess a 21 year old may be more responsible, but these shootings are not about youth. They are about either evil, mental health issues, recklessness, or a combination of the three. People of all ages kill. I believe this would do little to nothing to curb gun violence in this country.
- Background checks - What Steve Kerr was focused on during his speech was the fact that there is a bill to require universal background checks just sitting in Congress and they refuse to vote on it. Yes universal background checks is basic common sense. How do you justify requiring a check at a gun store, but then down the street at the gun show it's not required? Makes zero sense. But as much as Democrats talk about background checks, they are only effective against someone who actually has a criminal background. If they are clean they can get a gun under what Dems and gun control advocates propose. The dude who shot up the school yesterday passed his background check.
- Assault rifles - I have not heard a compelling reason yet why these are allowed to be owned by civilians. Outlawing them is also common sense. But as much attention as they get, please understand that they make up a small fraction of the gun deaths in the U.S. Statistics show that in 2019 , assault weapons were used to kill 364 people. The number of people killed by handguns? 6,365.
- Are we naive enough to believe that this dude couldn't have slaughtered the same amount of kids with 2 handguns? And handguns are much more concealable. With a pair of cargo pants you could probably carry 6 or 8 of them at least. While an assault rifle requires two hands, you can fire a handgun with one. Dude could have literally shot up both sides of the classroom at the same time. I was watching CNN last night in awe as two guests made it a point for several minutes to say that the kids would have been better off getting shot by handguns than an assault rifle. In fact, in a closed in space like a classroom, I'm not sure it's not more advantageous to have a handgun.
Change the facts of what happened to fit under what gun control advocates are asking for. Let's say instead of 18 he was 21. Instead of the AR-15, he had two .40 caliber handguns. He actually passed a background check so that's a moot point. How does this end differently?
I feel like almost everyone is on the same side of the gun issue. Because the issue should be guns vs. no guns. Yes of course the Republicans are further down the line, with their crazy positions on guns, but just about everybody is on the same side. I haven't heard Dems complain about the fact that the gun industry manufactured 11.3 million guns in one year alone. I guess as long as they were handguns, no problem.
