The gun issue is complex and fascinating.
Thanks to the huge number of handguns we have in the US, I don't think legislating them out of existence is really helpful because anyone who wants one can have one. No gun control law will change that because no jury will convict an innocent gun owner solely for the crime of owning a gun.
To compound the difficulties, the reality is that a minuscule portion of the population uses guns to commit crimes or in the way Cho did. Legislating guns out of existence is therefore akin to taking away cars because a few drivers are reckless. It simply does not make sense.
Increasing the penalties for committing a crime with a weapon is naturally a good thing, but one I think the criminal laws have long ago considered and implemented by making distinctions between assaults and assaults with a deadly weapon, robbery and armed robbery, etc.
Perhaps some sort of a substantial tax on handguns coupled with psychological tests to weed out the obviously disturbed might help, but I really don't think these steps would have much impact given the easy access on the black market.
I think it is inevitable that criminals and psychopaths will have guns. They are not deterred. The question is what do the innocents who are potential victims of these criminals and psychopaths to do?
I frankly don't think that there is much prevention value in owning a handgun and a lot of danger in having one at home accessible to children. By the time a trigger guard can be unlocked and the weapon loaded, the time during which having a gun might be worth the danger will in most cases have passed.
As far as having guns in school, I went to a school where the kids could take their hunting rifles to class. One student was accidentally shot and killed by another who was playing with his rifle; he thought it was unloaded. In my own family, I recently learned from one of my sisters that she had somehow gotten hold of my father's pistol, which he thought was well-hidden, when she was very young, fourteen or fifteen, and accidentally set off a shot that narrowly missed another one of my sisters. They did not speak of this incident for 30 years.
I don't mind guns. I know how to handle them as a result of my background and experience, but I do not presently own any and doubt that I ever will. At home, I rely on a baseball bat for self protection. I have never had to use it for self-defense, and it is unlikely that I ever will, but I feel a lot more comfortable with it around than any guns.
Having rambled about all this, at the end of the day I have no problem with anyone who can demonstrate proficiency and good sense owning a handgun. They should be aware that they provide very limited protection and that they can be dangerous if not properly secured. It is ironic that the proper securing of a gun robs it of much of its defensive value. |
