Thursday, September 30, 2010
Don't Wait Till It's Too Late
After the shooting that occured at our neighbor UT campus Tuesday morning, the entire city of Austin was shocked by the experience it had just encountered and were eager to speak out and express their thoughts on the events. One person in particular who elaborated on their views of the situation was Thomas G. Palaima, a professor at the University of Texas who had personally experienced the tragedy. In his article posted in the Austin American Statesman, Professor Palaima expressed his feelings toward our government and it's very lenient gun laws which allowed such events as this, to happen. Palaima reached out to multiple groups with his article. He reached out to the parents who were concerned about their children's lives, to reassure them there are things that can be done to prevent tragedies such as one like this from happening again. Palaima also reached out to the students who could not believe this had actually happened on their beloved campus, to teach them ways to know how to prevent. It was also a message to the community who watched with wide eyes in anticipation the outcome of this tragedy, but most importantly, Palaima's article reached out to our national government to remind them of how certain laws that benefit others, can turn to a catastrophe in no time. For it to be as easy as it was for someone to buy such a dangerous weapon is leading into nothing but contreversy. If it was done before, and it is continuing to happen, with no change in the laws, indeed, it will happen again. I have no other views but to agree with Professor Palaima on the criticism of our gun laws as of today. We have to start the change that will gravitate towards our national government. If we continue to let it be so easy to obtain a weapon such as the student did on that Tuesday morning, our world is nothing but corrupt. The United States has to make that change to protect our citizens, and in this case, our future.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
As most of you know already, there was an incident at UT Austin in September, involving a student who apparently fired off a few shots on campus before running into a library where he took his own life. In one of my colleague's blog, A Change Has Come, she contends that this tragedy is a result of too much leniency in our gun laws.
ReplyDeleteBefore imparting my opinion on this topic, I feel it would behoove me to clarify something about myself, lest I be construed as a gun-toting "good ole' boy" who longs for days gone by when a man could drive down the street proudly displaying his favorite rifle in the rear window of his pick-up truck. I am not one of these "cowboy" types who avidly supports the NRA and the advancement of gun freedoms and I have never even owned a gun.
That being said, I don't think it is fair to lay the blame for these types of occurrences squarely on the shoulders of feeble gun laws. In a recent article, Eric Puryear explains how, despite British gun laws being some of the toughest in the world, they have failed to prevent gun violence. He cites many specific cases, the most recent being a killing spree by a cab driver who killed 12 people and wounded 25 others. He goes on to explain that there was actually a 40% increase in handgun related crime in the first two years after the British banned handguns. The fact is, no matter how strict we could possibly make our laws, people would still be able to get guns, if they wanted, through the black market. The illegal gun trade is already a huge industry that would, if anything, grow larger as a result of more restrictive gun control laws. By tightening the laws, all we really accomplish is making it harder for responsible, law-abiding citizens to obtain guns, while criminals still maintain their traditional avenues of acquirement.
We do need safeguards against these shooting sprees, and I don't have any brilliant proposals, but I don't think that it's as simple as strengthening our gun laws. I think that there are bigger social issues at work here having to do with what leads people to commit these heinous acts in the first place.
Controversial articles and topics get controversial replies and criticisms. Your statement that the current gun laws in America are too lax certainly falls into both all the previously mentioned categories. Being former military and presently civilian, it was actually no more difficult to get a weapon being in either category. Being trained to use a variety of weapons, I can say with confidence that the weapon does not make itself dangerous. The operator of the weapon is what makes it dangerous.
ReplyDeleteA rifle of any caliber can be used to take any life as long as the shot is placed correctly. More rounds fired yield better odds of one of them being deadly, but I have never seen a reason for a fully automatic weapon outside of the battlefield. It certainly isn't required in hunting.. However, if you remove the distance needing to be covered by the weapon and carry the same power, you have a handgun. Handguns are still tightly regulated and controlled. Background checks, screenings, etc… are all required to purchase one. And if you wish to legally carry one concealed, you take on infinitely greater responsibility in order to carry it as such not to mention the required training. Don't believe me? Take a concealed carry class just for the experience. You'll have a whole new respect for the Castle Laws.
So basically, a rational person acting responsibly, within the law, is allowed by the bill of rights amending the constitution to bear arms; which leaves just people who aren’t rational or acting legally. These individuals wield (with varying proficiency) any weapon they can get their hands on to commit these crimes. As stated in various sources, yet nicely compiled here, the 10 year ban of assault weapons did not lower violent crimes. So a trial period of 10 years yielded no substantial results that an outright ban of assault weapons lowered crime.
And Obama wants to make the ban permanent. I’m hoping it’s voted down 8-90 again. I say, stop the stupid people from doing stupid things like wielding an AK-47 on a school.
URL of post with working links:
http://redjohntherep.blogspot.com/2010/11/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html