In Greece, policemen in riot gear face-down disenchanted citizens who cannot comprehend the concept of, "It's gone there is no more." Some of us with rural roots recognize this condition of gonism as basic as, "You cannot get blood out of a turnip." Whomever it was who first felt the need to say this was far more clever than ever I formerly believed. Modern folk-understanding, being what it is, now has it that this once immutable law of physics is no longer applicable--I suppose by presidential decree. No wonder some are confusing our politicians with deity saviors.
These same confused individuals, likely with the help of a public education system and/or decriminalized marijuana, now believe that bad things won't happen if they think it hard enough. It has become the best wisdom for everyone to bury their heads as does and ostrich when it comes to their personal protection--but eve more dangerously, our children. Denying the existence of evil has never made evil go away. This attitude has always added to the problem, emboldening evil, rather than curbing it. Our world is not quite Shambala. Not even the bergs of the North-East.
It is said that the natural cliff caves in one area of Tibet are full of the naturally mummified remains of Buddhist Monks who starved themselves to death in a bid to astro-travel there. Although they may have believed that they did, their emaciated bodies found within those caves prove that they did not really reach their destination.- But from where the idea comes apparently held by so many that making it illegal to buy nitro-glycerine used to treat heart attacks in order to reduce deaths by cancer pretty much takes the cake.
This is fairly equivalent to what liberal anti-firearm activists are proposing while supporters such measures blindly line up behind them, shaking their signs and hurling their insults at the NRA as if they are doing some tangible to curb school violence. Just as many people will die of cancer if we ban nitro-glycerine as a heart medicine, plus a lot of people will die of heart attack to boot. This is exactly how ridiculous the proposed measures to reduce gun violence are. Before you huff off in anger, give me the chance to back up my claim, as I certainly can. First of all, so-called assault weapons are not the only weapons available to people who want to harm children. Secondly, even if reducing these so-called assault weapons in general circulation or in the hands of the legal public truly would reduce this kinds of violent acts, the threat of passing laws to stop such sales has the exact opposite effect.
With the very first outcries regarding banning these weapons, sales of these rifles sky-rocketed. By the second or third day, all the existing inventory of such rifles were completely sold-out. Additional orders were placed by dealers and suppliers and manufacturers went to work racing the fill all these orders. The gun-ban enacted under President Clinton had no demonstrable effect upon gun violence. What it did, was create greater interest in those rifles already in the marketplace. Congress does not stand a chance of passing--even in the current hysterical environment--a law to outlaw the ownership of such weapons outright, or to have them confiscated.
They just don't. No-one who understands the issues even thinks there is a remote chance of doing so. Congress will not even try to do so. So everyone who thinks they might want one of these rifles--all for legal and acceptable purposes is rushing out to buy one or more of these. It is a no-brainer from an economic standpoint, as future supply and demand will drive the price steadily upward.
Secondary fallout of such a ban is that these non-military sporting rifles erroneously nicknamed assault rifles immediately become more valuable. The demand and the price is driven up on the mere speculation of a reduced supply. This makes existing rifles more desirable targets for theft--increasing burglaries, theft, and black-market sales, thereby placing greater numbers into the hands of violent criminals--rather than in the hands of responsible citizens.
The very saddest aspect to this is that thes rifles are NOT the typical culprits used in violent gun crimes. A few public events in our recent memory notwithstanding, only a very small percentage of these weapons are actually involved in violent gun crimes. They simply are not very practical for such crimes. There are so many alternative guns available that crazed shooter types have only to pick another model. Interestingly the probable reason that these guns are the ones chosen in the recent shootings probably have little to do with their quasi-military design.
It reasonably has more to do with the fact that these are the weapons depicted in violent video war and shooting games. I am not suggesting that video games are to blame for school violence--but it is apparent that those who do play video games seem to want to emulate the weapons depicted there. These so-called assault rifles, which our president and others erroneously call military weapons (they actually do not have much in common with real military weapons), are probably also chosen for mischief, because of their wide availability. This type of "black rifle" is currently the most popular rifle made. Even so, FBI records of which I will insert a chart graphically showing within this post, clearly indicates that of all crimes involving guns and shootings, less than 4.5 % involve the use of these famously misnamed assault weapons.
You tell me, is this the best that Congress can do? Probably so; our politicians are not stupid. They know the score; they know that they will very likely be viewed unfavorably by a segment of their gun-challenged voters if they don't DO SOMETHING in the wake of this gun hysteria. The gun-ban previously enacted under President Clinton, but which was allowed to sun-down without being renewed due to its demonstrated ineffectiveness, and due to its unpopularity among another segment of their voters. It is an easy charade for politicians to play like they are doing SOMETHING about the problem of school shootings without really helping the problem even a little bit. In lieu of this type of firearm, some other type of firearm will be used, many with greater effectiveness.
If firearms are not available, maybe a car will be used to plow into a bunch of little kids waiting for the bus. The intelligence and mental capacities of these last two prominent shooters certainly gave them the ability to learn from the Internet and make far more destructive methods for killing people. In the case of the Colorado theater killings, the shooter actually did wire his apartment with powerful homemade bombs--which required bomb squads to disarm before entering. In countries where firearms are not readily available very destructive homemade bombs are the weapon of choice for the disaffected, terrorists, or other public enemies.
In England, where firearms have never been widely legal to own, and where now exists some of the most restrictive gun-ban laws in the world, destructive crimes of hate or misplaced vengeance continue to happen. It is illegal to make bombs, of course, but bombs have killed numerous people even in recent history. The first time you fly into Heathrow Airport near London, most Americans are shocked to see the major presence of armed guards decked out fully in military special ops uniforms and berets and carrying real fully-automatic military weapons. And yet violent crimes that savagely kill people on a wholesale level still happen.
Continued in next post
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