Gun Control

I like controversy so why not create a blog called "Gun Control." After reading, I would greatly appreciate your comments.

Let's look at both sides:

FOR GUNS

• I need to protect myself and my family
• The second amendment gives me the right to bear arms
• We need to be able to get the latest powerful guns on the market today because the bad people will be able to get them
• I like to hunt
• I like to entertain myself by shooting my gun
• Bad people kill people not guns
• There is no way to completely stop anyone from getting a gun
• I don't trust the police who would have too much power over me if I could no longer get a gun
• I've had guns in my family for hundreds of years and nobody got hurt

AGAINST GUNS

• The killings of adults and children would not happen if these people could not get a gun
• Having a gun is the best way to have an accident involving yourself and others
• We should be calling the police instead of taking action on our own
• If there were no guns the crime rate would greatly go down
• Why can't everyone have a Taser and/or a pepper spray 
• The second amendment should be removed. It was written at a time when having a gun was a necessary evil 

I'm sure I did not list all the FOR and AGAINST items, but I hope I got to the majority of them. I believe there is a middle ground to all of this. Let me first state that I believe in the second amendment. However, when it was written the only thing available was a hand gun and a rifle. The writers did not have a vision of the multitude of killing machines that are produced today and will get even more deadly in the future.

Therefore, the really at issue is the kind of guns we need and want and who should or should not be able to get them. The NRA does not want any laws preventing gun usage for several reasons:

• Selling guns makes the manufactures a shit load of money
• If some laws are passed now more laws might be passed in the future and then even more laws might be passed. The NRA doesn't want us to go down that slippery slope
• Most NRA members believe in a "pure" second amendment. They believe any gun control law is taking away a freedom that the Constitution guarantees them
• Some (not many) NRA members are paranoid that someday we will have a police state and they will need guns to stop the police from taking away their freedom
• Some (not many) NRA members believe we will need guns and other heavy equipment (like tanks) to protect ourselves from a foreign country attack  

Like I said, I believe having a gun is my right. Although it is my right, I don't have one because they scare the hell out of me. If I did want a gun, I can't see any reason to "need" an AK47 with a large bullet magazine to protect myself. Therefore, one of the real issues is where do we stop the level of killing machines people can obtain. The writers of the Constitution had hand guns and rifles. To me, that's a great place to stop.

The second real issue is who should be able to get a gun. To me, this is the number one issue. The checking system on who can get a gun is broken. There is no uniform system. There is no national database for checking a person's background. Most importantly there is no mental health test to determine if a person is sane enough to carry a gun.

I realize there is an issue with everyone's privacy. However, I believe, the right to privacy takes second place when allowing someone to be able to get a device that kills. We would be outraged if a known mental patient was allowed to drive a school bus, fly a commercial airplane or purchase an assault weapon.

I realize we can't stop everyone who should not have a gun from getting one. I also realize that the mentally unstable people who did these mass killings should have been reported to the authorities' way earlier by their parents, family and friends. These parents, family, etc. are, in my opinion, as guilty for letting these mentally unstable adults and children get a gun or even having a gun or assault weapon in their house. Again, in my opinion, prosecuting these parents, family, etc. when a known mentally unstable person kills will send the right message of intolerance.

Why is your "Happiness" messenger writing a blog about gun control? It's because, feeling safe is happiness. The right to have a gun to feel safe is your Constitutional right. The right to prevent the wrong people from getting a killing machine is also your right. A world with no guns is not logical or legal. However, a world with realistic gun laws, background checks and mental health checks would make us safer.

Safer Is Happiness!