Gun Control

The events in Tuscon have brought this issue back to the front. There is no doubt that the United States has more guns than it needs. It is no doubt that it is an issue that is something that needs to be addressed.

I have a very good friend, a man I respect very much who with his whole heart believes that any gun control is the first step to confiscating all guns. When a person might mention that there is no real reason for a Glock pistol that will shoot 30 bullets in five seconds the response is that is the first step.

I am not a gun person. I think that having a gun around can allow a situation to escalate to a point it would not were one not present.

However it is not just gun nuts that have this theory. For example those on the extreme left are usually loath to approve even what most would call a very moderate limitation on on demand abortion. Why? For the same reason that gun folks do not want any limitations neither do they.

In an era of extremism both sides have much to atone for.

Reading a recent article about the history of the NRA as a political force it was only in the seventies that the second amendment came to be viewed as the right to bear arms and not the right to form militias. There is a strong difference but now whole generations of American are taking this interpretation as gospel. Republicans have latched onto this issue as one that a segment of the population uses as a determinant of their vote.

There appears no chance of any common sense on this issue. It is very unfortunate.