We can’t just say, “Everybody does it”.
No! Dammit!
Everybody doesn’t do it. Sure, Iraq does it. Afghanistan does it. Somalia does it.
Great company, those, or they, or them. S’wonderful to be included in any kind of statistic with those countries, right? But it’s especially heartwarming to have an “Access to Military-Style Weapons” connection.
Folks, our village is broken, and we are giving military-capable weapons to anybody who wants them.
It staggers the imagination. And it should make us stagger back in revulsion.
Nobody, and I truly mean nobody — outside the military — needs military firepower. Ever.
Look folks, I’m not a simpering, hand-wringing, deer in the headlights kind of guy. I spent plenty of time in the military. I qualified “Expert” with every weapon I was handed. I flew with Special Operations guys, and I piloted aircraft that spied on Commies. Trust me, if I was on a military combat patrol, I’d want the biggest gun I could carry, and if it had a 500-round magazine, that would be very good. If it had a friggin’ flamethrower and a gamma-ray blaster, that would be even better. We want our military to have weapons like that. We want our military to deliver the biggest can of whup-ass the enemy has ever seen.
Because we want our military to win. Every time.
But people sitting in a theater in downtown America aren’t the enemy. Neither are little children sitting in a classroom.
Why do we regulate or prohibit the sale of fully automatic weapons? Because, ostensibly, those weapons, which can empty fully loaded magazines in a couple seconds, are capable of horrific damage. But let’s get real. If it takes 3 seconds or 13 seconds to unleash bloody hell upon a crowd, what is the friggin’ difference?
That’s a rhetorical question. There IS no difference. Bloody hell is bloody hell.
Look, liberty is NOT the same as license. Freedom of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is NOT the same as freedom to own and access an arsenal that can keep a SWAT team at bay.
I don’t think I can do much as an individual, but I can do this:
If those in authority think our Constitution gives me the right and privilege to possess military-type weapons, military-type ammunition magazines or vast quantities of ammunition—and I earnestly dispute that interpretation—I hereby willingly, with full comprehension and for the common good of our Village, renounce and relinquish my so-called Constitutional right to buy, own or otherwise possess or distribute any such weapon or ammunition cache.
If I want to hunt, I get to buy and keep my fully registered and licensed hunting rifle. If I have the need for self protection, I get to keep my fully registered and licensed, limited clip handgun.
It’s not perfect, and it won’t prevent every bit of gun violence, but it’s a start.
And we need to start.
I’m sure the militant gun advocates will think, “That’s great, you liberal bastard. You give up your guns and I’ll keep mine and I’ll eventually wipe your ass off the planet!”
If that’s what life in our Village has come to, what can I say?
Enough . . . for god’s sake . . . is enough.
