TMTR: Gun Control — raise the age to 21 and ban bump stocks. Figure the rest out later.
as seen on Facebook
Seems like everyone is weighing in on the issue of gun control. Social media is saturated with it. I’ve absorbed opinions from my brother and colleagues — to friends in the US, Florida specifically, and Canada. I’ve read a bunch of articles and watched interviews given on the subject. That certainly doesn’t make me an expert, but it does allow me to form an opinion. A partial one at least.
The Second Amendment, adopted in 1791, did not take into consideration the future advancement of semiautomatic and automatic weapons. Certainly we can all agree with that. Right so far? And, we want children to be safe — especially at school. Still with me?
But here’s where it gets tricky…
Raising the firearm possession age to 21 makes sense to me. While raising the age to 21 would deter school shootings, it doesn’t address other mass shootings like the one at the nightclub in Florida or the Harvest music festival shooting in Las Vegas. Based upon this, banning bump stocks sounds reasonable to me too. (In light of recent news of an elementary teacher in a neighboring town being arrested for distributing child pornography, the thought of giving guns to teachers makes my head spin.)
And here’s where it gets tricker…
The general public does not know the difference between a full automatic and a semi-automatic firearm. Robert Crook, executive director of the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen, said “the term ‘assault weapon,’ as used by the media, is a media invention.” It’s my opinion media is a HUGE problem in all of this and I agree with Mark Sanborn who said, “We can all benefit from less information and more insight.”
as seen on Facebook
So what can we agree to ban?
Do it Australia’s way or Denmark’s way? (From one friend… “We are Americans, for crying out loud! Can’t we figure it out for ourselves? STOP TRYING TO BE LIKE SOMEONE ELSE!“)
So why not tackle the easy stuff immediately, (like raising the age and banning bump stocks), and THEN tackle the more difficult arguments (ones that I haven’t even decided that I would support) after that? Seems like that would be a good and sensible beginning. No?
I’m the girl that years ago enjoyed shooting a Mac 11 machine gun with an ex-boyfriend (sorry Mom!). He has been an Indiana State Trooper for several years now. I understand it’s not all about the guns — but I also understand that the world has changed. There have been children arrested in neighboring communities just this week for school threats/intimidation. Still, I’m of the opinion we have enough governmental control (and they sure make us pay in taxes even for what we don’t want), and hate to see more regulations because a small percentage of people are evil, want attention, are bat-shit crazy or a combination of all three.
In the meantime, thoughts and prayers never hurt…
