Though I've never had to use it, I keep a shotgun under my bed. I'm no fan of guns and have never been a hunter, but you never know when a larcenous raccoon might invade a North Idaho bedroom. Looking back fifty years I can still recall most of the weapons I was required to qualify on in the Army. They even gave me a marksmanship medal for the M-16 which, knowing the Army, was undoubtedly a paperwork mistake or just dumb luck.
There are lots of guys, and gals, who know their way around weapons and, unlike me, many enjoy target practice and hunting. It's the crazies who are the problem. Shooting up malls, bars and other places law-abiding folks gather these vermin are behind the seemingly never-ending hideous acts of horror and death that have now become commonplace in America. Politicians and TV blowhards prattle on about gun control and background checks yet no magic wand can un-invent guns and no lunatic with murder and mayhem on his mind is going to worry about breaking the law to snag a weapon. If a criminal wants a gun there will always be someone there to provide one for a price.
In our national discussion of this problem, I'm struck by what I feel plays no small part in this tragic situation. In 1960 there were approximately 180,000,000 citizens in the United States, today there are roughly 330,000,000 souls within our borders. Let's say--and I think this is a low ball estimate--that one out of one-hundred of us has serious mental derangement issues and is capable of killing other human beings. Doesn't it stand to reason that we have more murder and mayhem? Do the math. Once we institutionalized the criminally insane. Now, we have state hospitals sitting empty and our mentally impaired off their meds and living on the streets.
Obviously, I bring no expertise to this growing problem, but we sure as hell can't un-invent guns nor can we keep them out of the hands of those wishing to harm others. Can't we please begin to consider that perhaps getting the ever-growing numbers of the mentally unbalanced off the streets and back into the hospitals where they can be supervised and compelled to take prescribed medications? It may be a good place to start.
There are lots of guys, and gals, who know their way around weapons and, unlike me, many enjoy target practice and hunting. It's the crazies who are the problem. Shooting up malls, bars and other places law-abiding folks gather these vermin are behind the seemingly never-ending hideous acts of horror and death that have now become commonplace in America. Politicians and TV blowhards prattle on about gun control and background checks yet no magic wand can un-invent guns and no lunatic with murder and mayhem on his mind is going to worry about breaking the law to snag a weapon. If a criminal wants a gun there will always be someone there to provide one for a price.
In our national discussion of this problem, I'm struck by what I feel plays no small part in this tragic situation. In 1960 there were approximately 180,000,000 citizens in the United States, today there are roughly 330,000,000 souls within our borders. Let's say--and I think this is a low ball estimate--that one out of one-hundred of us has serious mental derangement issues and is capable of killing other human beings. Doesn't it stand to reason that we have more murder and mayhem? Do the math. Once we institutionalized the criminally insane. Now, we have state hospitals sitting empty and our mentally impaired off their meds and living on the streets.
Obviously, I bring no expertise to this growing problem, but we sure as hell can't un-invent guns nor can we keep them out of the hands of those wishing to harm others. Can't we please begin to consider that perhaps getting the ever-growing numbers of the mentally unbalanced off the streets and back into the hospitals where they can be supervised and compelled to take prescribed medications? It may be a good place to start.
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