General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Tolerance of "weapon flakes" is coming to an end. [View all]thucythucy
(8,048 posts)Out of context it just seemed completely out of left field.
And I'm glad you see the need for well-considered but stringent gun controls.
Since you've shared some with me, I'll share some personal experiences with you.
I too have been to a gun range--went with a friend who was a collector (probably still is, haven't kept up with him--not because of the guns, but time, distance, etc.). And yes, I had a pretty good time. It IS a rush, no doubt about it.
But... my partner's grandfather was shot in the back in a "hunting accident"--he was out in the woods and a moron mistook him for a deer. A good friend lost his lover when she was shot through the windshield of her car, and bled to death before the EMTs could arrive. I used to be a volunteer at a rape crisis center, and heard first hand accounts from women raped at gun point. And a good friend of mine lost her lover to suicide--by hand gun. And another friend lost her brother -- also hand gun suicide. In at least one case the suicide was on an impulse-- he'd had an argument with his mother on the phone, and blew his brains out, evidently in a "she'll be sorry when I'm dead!" sort of moment. In the case of the suicides, maybe they would have killed themselves eventually anyway--they obviously had serious problems. But the handgun being there made it just so god damn easy.
Suicide shouldn't be so easy. Murder, especially mass murder, shouldn't be accomplished with a couple of twitches of a finger.
Anyway, you can see how I have a visceral reaction to discussing guns on a highly theoretical plain. Arguing over definitions of "semi-automatic" versus "assault," or whether the calibre of the bullets used in Connecticut was as lethal as some other calibre, etc.
I wish we were at the point with ALL guns that we were at in the 1930s with machine guns. That is, before the advent of a billion dollar industry that has managed to flood the nation with hundreds of millions of the things, insuring that I will live the rest of my life awash in guns and gun violence.
It's my personal perspective, and obviously I'm emotionally involved, and obviously this whole issue is complex, multi-faceted, multi-layered.
But twenty dead school children, all for nothing. I guess for me that was the final straw.
We HAVE to figure out a way to stop this.