Guns

I'm so conflicted.

On the one hand, I hate the idea that anyone can mess with the 2^nd Amendment. I'm an avid hunter and have guns [no automatic or semi-automatics] and it worries me that a ban on so-called military weapons and high capacity clips could lead to other weapon bans. I don't hunt with an AK47 with a 30 round banana clip. My hunting friend has a single shot he uses to hunt and he makes good sense. If you don't hit that target with the first shot, there's a real good chance that target will not be there when you jack in another shell. I'm not that good a shot, so I have a gun that holds 6 bullets.

I worry that there might be a slippery slope affect with banning guns of any kind.

The conflict comes when I think about those poor children who were mowed down with a semi-automatic. This act was absolutely disgusting. My knee-jerk reaction to this excruciating act is to ban-baby-ban all those terrible semi-automatics RIGHT NOW. Then I think, you know, I was out on the George Nourse's target range just a few months ago shooting a friend's M16 with a 30 round mag. God, it was fun. I blew up about 10 pumpkins with absolute glee. Not only that, I found the rifle to be very accurate and the barrel stayed fairly cool for firing so many rounds. In other words, the M16 semi-automatic rifle was helluva great weapon. That same day, I shot a Glock 9MM and had the same enjoyment. If these guns are banned, that feeling will never happen again.

To ban or not to ban, that is the question [sorry for my ill use of Shakespeare's Hamlet's Soliloquy]. I'm still conflicted. As a Liberal, I should be up in arms to ban-baby-ban, but as a gun owner, I'm really not so sure that's the correct answer to a terrible problem.

I found Pierce Morgan pretty convincing when he said there were 50-some gun deaths in Great Britain in 2011. However, he didn't quite go far enough [he seldom does]. In Great Britain in 2011, there were 663 murders [all weapons]. They have a population of 63,181,775 people and that would mean the ratio of murders to population would be 1: 95,296...pretty good actually. In comparison, America has a population of 312,727,538 and there were 14,612 in 2011 and that would make a ratio of 1: 21,402. Clearly America beats Great Britain in murders per year.

Great Britain had 42 gun deaths in 2011 or a ratio of 1: 1.5 million people as opposed to the U.S. With a ratio of 1: 9673. It would appear that a ban on guns works for Great Britain.

But, Pierce, we are not talking England and surrounds. We are talking The United States of America. We are a gun loving nation with a history of using and appreciating hour weapons. We like our guns so much we have created an Amendment to our constitution that protects us from people who would take them away. You Brits don't have that persona or gun filled way of life historically. When the Japanese were thinking about invading our shores, they were cautioned by a Japanese general who said there would be a gun behind every blade of grass in this country. They decided not to land on the West Coasts.

I simply cannot make up my conflicted mind. I want to hear all the arguments before I make a stand. That's the problem with being a Liberal. You see both sides of the argument and, in this case, both sides have valid data. Phooie!