As an outsider I am open to accusations that I sometimes do not know enough about a particular country or situation to comment. I can sympathise with that point of view, but essentially I disagree. As an outsider, my views are unfettered by cultural tradition or the prevailing political correctness that may influence native commentators. Which is why I feel well enough qualified to say that any American who doesn't think the time has come to give up the 'right to bear arms' must be out of their tiny effing minds.
I'm not into curbing people's rights, far from it. But how many people have to die to preserve a right that most 'civilised' countries around the world consider outdated and essentially very dangerous? In a perfect world we could all keep guns just for the fun of it but no one would get shot. In a slightly less than perfect world we could all keep guns to protect ourselves against nogoodniks but no innocent people would get shot. The world isn't close to being acceptably reasonable - even on a good day.
While I haven't touched a gun in almost 20 years I do know that they can be a lot of fun to handle. The last time I used a firearm was in New Zealand when I went shooting rabbits for the pot. In the military I was rated expert on pistol, sub and light machine gun. For a while I was a member of a .22 rifle shooting team. There's a buzz - a real buzz - in smacking home a full magazine, thumbing full-auto and letting rip. Wow, if you've never done it, you should. But please, do it under professional supervision and in carefully controlled circumstances.
I gave up my 'love affair' with guns reluctantly - though the withdrawal cannot be compared with being told by some unctious restaurant manager that I cannot enjoy a smoke with my liqueur after a damn good meal. I stopped because of the dreadful carnage being wreaked by private citizens around the world who owned guns. If I was to make a comment on the issue, I had to stand behind my words. And my words were 'no way' to keeping guns in the home.
Over the years I have tempered my opinion. I can appreciate the necessity of farmers to keep a shotgun. I can sympathise with the true enthusiast - especially those into antiques - who take every imaginable precaution to keep their weapons securely locked up. I'm not a single minded activist who wants all guns thrown into the forge and melted down. There are some very responsible gun-owners, and then, there are many who are not.
What is beyond my comprehension are the folks who keep a dozen rifles and machine guns under their bed and ammunition in the bedroom dresser! Even after the Jonesboro massacre it was simple for BBC correspondents to find people in the neighborhoud willing - proud - to show off their collections and the total lack of any security employed. Hey, it is their right, right? One correspondent asked a guy, "So how many weapons do you have under there?" The good old boy had to get down and count - he couldn't remember! Now that is insanity - it shouldn't be a constitutional right.
In many countries around the world, when a gun outrage occurs tough laws are tightened. It usually takes a massacre of innocents for the government to act - but act they do and often decisively. In the US, sadly, the story is different.
After all is said and done, however, it still doesn't explain what possessed two kids to 'borrow' an arsenal of weapons and ammunition and go on a shooting spree.
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