Of Lobbies and Responsibilities

Remember the young shooter at Virginia Tech? Remember the horror we felt when we heard about the many young people that were lost to parents, sibilings, and relatives? Yes, it was caused by a gun in the hand of a mentally unstable person. However, do you think he would have obtained a gun in any other 'sane' country? Hell no!! He killed people, because he had mental problems. He should never have been allowed to get a gun; he got it. The parents must take blame for his mental state not being addressed; government instituitions must take responsibility for letting someone like that slip through the cracks and obtain a firearm. It is about responsibility.

We are not a society that likes to take responsibility for our actions. It is easier to blame the government, the police, anything, but ourselves. Over the recent years, there have been a spate of crimes on University campuses, high schools, and other places. Most of these crimes involved shooters; most of them involved young people addicted to hours of surfing or talking on the internet; most of them, almost totally unsupervised throughout their young adult lives. As parents, we are too busy to earn enough for a bigger and better home, a bigger and better car, a bigger and better position in life to see the most important treasures we have--our children. As such, we pass off our responsibilities of raising our children to teenage baby sitters. Is it any wonder our children reflect this neglect? When parents think that they can pass off their responsibilities on to others, then there is something very wrong in our society. Thus, when a crime is commited by a teenager, or for that matter, any older person, we once again gird up our loins to fight for the total annihilation of anything remotely resembling a gun. Before I get any further into this ‘treatise’, let me assure most of my readers that I am not a member of the NRA. Indeed, I may be at the other end of the spectrum, or pretty close to it. However, saying, “Guns do not kill people; people do” is euphemism par excellence. Most gun owners are responsible. They know what guns can do; they know the consequences of irresponsible actions; they know responsibility and accept it. And to me, that is at the heart of the question—responsibility.

The NRA emphasis responsibility regarding guns, I grant them that; however, what they do not want is licensing of guns, or at least licensing which means a thorough background check. That is irresponsibility. The government is equally to blame in not initiating thorough checks. I live in Maryland and can just go across to Virginia and obtain a gun--any sort of a gun, as long as the price is right.

We need to remember our lessons, because we will have problems in the future. These problems are going to be compounded as the soldiers come back from Iraq and Afghanistan. After going years deployed in battle zones--battle zones in which it is difficult to differentiate between friend or foe, you will have stressed-out people. Guns in their hands, with their level of expertise, especially in these hard economic times could bode major problems for society. Unless, we, the NRA, Congress and law enforcement are on the same wavelength, all cities in the US could be in serious trouble. It happened after 'Nam; it can happen again.

It is all about responsibility: parents, Congress, and special interests.

On this one: stop lobbying for personal interests; lobby for safety.