A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
The 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
We are tested in our beliefs, when we are challenged with difficult situations and horrible tragedy. This weekend, we had the largest mass gun murder in U.S. history. In a movie theater, where people were gathered to enjoy a premier of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, we had the unthinkable. As of this writing 12 people have died and 58 people were wounded, in the shooting in Aurora, Colorado.
I can only imagine the grief and heartbreak of the Victims, friends, and families. It forces us to examine the root cause of this terrible event. James Holmes a 24 year old, former PhD student from the University of Colorado, was arrested in the parking lot, after the murders. He apparently dropped out of the program in June, giving no reason.
He is, from all accounts, a very intelligent young man, with no criminal record. To many people, he just seemed to be a shy,smart, normal young man.
What went wrong with this young man we may never know. But, when things like this happen, the media and those in favor of gun control, come out in full force to blame our “lax gun laws”.
We hear about all the past mass killings and the urgent cries for a solution.
First off, the real responsibility lands squarely on the shooter. He planned this for months and he did the shooting. He also rigged his apartment with exploding booby traps, that had to be disarmed before police could search his place. Apparently there was enough explosives to level the whole apartment complex.
As horrible as this was, do the people wanting gun restrictions have a point? Well no, not at all.
Now, what would have happened if a couple of the movie goers had concealed weapons? Obviously we will never know, but they could have shot the attacker before he shot so many people.
One of the things that seems to be left unmentioned, is the incident in Florida, a few days earlier. At an internet cafe in Florida, 2 armed men burst into the place in a robbery attempt. A 71 year old man, had a concealed gun, and he shot the robbers and they turned and fled. What would have happened if he hadn’t been there? Again, we will never really know, but they could have killed several people, if this man had not stopped them.
In Switzerland, almost everyone owns a gun. The gun violence is so low that they no longer keep records of it. This certainly, is an example of why gun laws are not the culprit, in these situations.
The most important issue here, however, is the fact that the 2nd Amendment helps us protect all the other freedoms we enjoy. All despotic governments use gun confiscation to help force the population into submission.
Fear can be a powerful motivator. But we must remember that fear cannot dictate laws, if we are to maintain freedom. The very Freedom that many have fought and died to protect. A well armed citizen population deters the criminals.
The very nature of what a criminal does, forces us to acknowledge, that they will always be able to get their hands on guns. We must protect the right of law abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families.
