Sandy Hook

The shootings in Connecticut today are going to reignite the debate over gun control.  The Second Amendment, of course, guarantees gun ownership.

The strongest argument those in favor of stronger gun control make is that weapons kill people.  That's partly true.  But those firearms can't shoot on their own.  People are required to shoot the guns, and besides the weapons themselves, the only other constant in these tragic events is that a shooter is operating the gun.

A lot is made about the type of weapon used:  automatic, semi-automatic, assault rifle.  The type of gun varies, but in almost every instance, the one constant is that the shooter is unhinged, mentally sick, literally a loose cannon.

Sure, there are certain weapons that no citizen reasonably needs.  I'd love to have a .50 cal machine gun, but for what?  Road rage?  I'd love to fire one, but only in a controlled environment with trained professionals assisting me.

Are semi-automatics legitimate weapons for private citizens to own?  Why not?  The impliciet purpose of the Second Amendment is for people to protect themselves.  A semi-automatic weapon would go a long way to accomplish that.

But the one thing people gloss over in these events is that the people taking innocent lives before taking their own are mentally unbalanced, troubled beyond help.  People with this mental make-up have no business being allowed to purchase guns, much less own them.  This, and only this, is the one area where I support tighter gun control.  There should be a database wherein people with a history of mental illness are registered.  Gunshops should have access to this database and be required to consult it before finalizing a sale.  Any gunseller who sells to someone on that list should face very hard jail time.

The counter argument to gun control advocates is that by having carry and conceal laws, tragedies like the one in Connecticut could be avoided.  In other instances, like the mall shooting earlier this month, that's true.  But who in a kindergarten is going to be packing?  Certainly not the children.  The teachers are unlikely to be armed.  Who then?  The janitors?

Tragedies occur.  It's part of life.  But just as we perform maintenance on airplanes and other modes of transportation only to have them fail, tighter gun control laws won't eliminate shootings like the one today.  It's a sad, sad part of life.

(c) 2012 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles