Are guns at fault or the gunmen?

At the moment, there is a huge outrage over the shooting that occurred at Sandy Hook, and rightly so. There should be outrage when a mentally ill person does something so horrific. However, looking at the situation, it was the gunman – not the gun – who was the perpetrator of the crime. Whenever laws are enacted taking away rights of all individuals, the citizens who are law-abiding are the ones whose rights are actually taken away. The criminal or mentally ill person is not going to let a law written on a piece of paper prevent them from acting illegally. Placing a ban on weapons, or certain types of weapons, will not solve the problem the U.S. faces.

When my parents were young, in the early 1900s, children, teens and adults all had guns. They used them daily for shooting rabbits, squirrels, deer or whatever game was available, since that was their primary source of meat. Because society in that era was much more law-abiding, had stronger moral values and a higher degree of respect for others, guns were not used to shoot up schools and theaters. They were not viewed as “evil weapons.”

As our society has declined, our morals decayed, respect for others weakened, and the police and our laws scorned, instances of violence have increased. Add the continual showering of violence, rape, and murders seen by anyone who turns on the television or goes to a violent movie, and you have a society numb to the reality of what killing really means.

All the liberal actors shouting for gun control should also be shouting for a ban on violent movies and television shows. Ban the murder, rape and killing seen by our youngsters and teens. Ban the use of violence to give billions of dollars to the movie industry. If certain types of guns are to be banned, then the same goes for certain types of violent movies and television programs. When a horribly violent movie like “The Chainsaw Massacre” reaches No. 1 at the box office, you know there is something wrong with our society. Will chainsaws be banned next when some mentally ill person kills with one?

Let's see how far the liberals and actors would push for a law that banned guns along with violence on the big screen.

Karen Bowen
Yuma