Nuts

There are some things I haven't written much about even though they are important, and important to me.  I write about my interests and passions, but I don't always have the time or energy to put together a good piece, whatever the subject.  Sometimes I can't find the right words, or others have already said things better than I can.  For some examples, take a look at what this guy says, or this lady writes- I almost always agree with them, and they are both better writers than I am.

There's something going on that is important, and that I think about pretty much every day- because it happens every single day.  We keep having mass shootings in the U.S., particularly school shootings.  Those are the worst.  Bad enough when someone shoots up their workplace, where everyone is an adult and you can at least relate to the grudges that can develop.  Doesn't excuse the awfulness, but it's still not as bad as kids, or teenagers, or college students getting killed.  And we don't do a damn thing about it.  Even bringing up the possibility of making it a little harder to get guns is, to some people, apparently treason.  And their answer, aside from getting upset at those who dare to suggest we try to make things better, is to put forward the idea that we actually need more guns to make things safer.

I think these people watch too much TV.  I think they really believe that "if I was there I could have taken out the shooter!"  I think they are fucking morons.   More guns are not going to help.  People are stupid and crazy as is; look at other drivers, or the news.  Picture the lady who shot up the Home Depot parking lot, then picture thousands more like her, taking the law (and everyone's lives) in their hands.  There should not be guns in every classroom.  Think of the accidents, the arguments, the idiocy that would lead to.  Think about the "good guy" getting mistaken for a bad guy and getting shot by the police, or other "helpful" vigilantes. 

Look, most people in favor of gun control don't want to get rid of all guns.  I think we need maybe slightly fewer guns, slightly more regulation, and WAY more education.  If gun owners (and dare I say, drivers) were trained as well as pilots, there would be fewer accidents.  If gun ownership required the bare minimum of training we give drivers, much less pilots, a lot of these tragedies would be eliminated. 

But oh, "we can't regulate guns because of the 2nd Amendment!"  Bull.  Shit.  As I've written before, gun control does not mean confiscation.  Regulation does not mean infringing on the right to own a gun.  And the first clause in that amendment does matter, despite NRA attempts to ignore it.

Add to this mix of idiots presidential candidates who don't know what they're talking about.  Ben Carson says he would have stopped the Oregon shooting.  Big talk from a coward, who (if this even happened) said he was threatened with a gun at a restaurant- and promptly offered up someone else to be shot.  And "if the Jews had guns..."  Well, they did, in Warsaw, and died by the thousands.  Bravely, but pointlessly.  And the Poles and French had guns, and that stopped the Germans?

This utter lack of understanding of history, and of human nature, is what gets us into messes like this.  People need to study up a bit more, and drop the macho posturing.  We can't eliminate mass shootings.  We can reduce them.  If we want to.  I do not believe conservatives want to.