Let the Gangsters Have the Guns
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Random public shootings, like the tragedy that just occurred at a Portland, Oregon shopping mall are not carried out by gangsters. They are perpetrated by members of the law-abiding general public, who just so happen to be crazy. As a consequence, the National Rifle Association's principle argument for allowing the sale of such weapons is nonsensical. The NRA insists that a ban on assault weapons would leave the general public vulnerable and unarmed, while criminals would continue to buy weapons illegally, on the black market. Well, you know what? Since those who kill innocent people in random shootings are members of the general public, I say, ban the damned weapons. And let the gangsters kill each other in shoot-outs with whatever illegal guns they can find. At least drug dealers and thugs don't go around murdering innocent people randomly at Oregon shopping malls, Sikh temples, movie theaters previewing Batman and schools named Columbine.
The NRA's second argument -- that more members of the general public should be armed to prevent these incidents -- is even more ludicrous. How many more people would have died in each one of these tragedies had panicking civilians started shooting into the crowd, willy-nilly, unable to distinguish the perpetrator from the innocent?
Sooner or later, American society will mature to the point of relinquishing its gun culture. But before it does, we must remember that each one of us has a number tattooed across our forehead in invisible ink. And who's to say when a mentally-unstable member of the general public will call our number.
Random public shootings, like the tragedy that just occurred at a Portland, Oregon shopping mall are not carried out by gangsters. They are perpetrated by members of the law-abiding general public, who just so happen to be crazy. As a consequence, the National Rifle Association's principle argument for allowing the sale of such weapons is nonsensical. The NRA insists that a ban on assault weapons would leave the general public vulnerable and unarmed, while criminals would continue to buy weapons illegally, on the black market. Well, you know what? Since those who kill innocent people in random shootings are members of the general public, I say, ban the damned weapons. And let the gangsters kill each other in shoot-outs with whatever illegal guns they can find. At least drug dealers and thugs don't go around murdering innocent people randomly at Oregon shopping malls, Sikh temples, movie theaters previewing Batman and schools named Columbine.
The NRA's second argument -- that more members of the general public should be armed to prevent these incidents -- is even more ludicrous. How many more people would have died in each one of these tragedies had panicking civilians started shooting into the crowd, willy-nilly, unable to distinguish the perpetrator from the innocent?
Sooner or later, American society will mature to the point of relinquishing its gun culture. But before it does, we must remember that each one of us has a number tattooed across our forehead in invisible ink. And who's to say when a mentally-unstable member of the general public will call our number.
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