We need to step back & THINK for a moment about the
legislation in front of our lawmakers in Washington right now. I don’t know if
any of you caught the Newtown, CT segment of 60 minutes last night, but if you
didn’t you should search it out on line and view it because it goes to the very
heart of why this legislation was put forth in the first place. Full
disclosure: I am not a gun owner. Not a hunter. I have never been to a shooting
range. I have only pulled the trigger of a rifle once in my life. That was in
my youth as a Boy Scout. Despite all of that I, like most Americans, feel the
time has come for a common sense approach to gun ownership in this country.
Reasonable arguments are valid on both sides. The problem is some of the
discussion on the side of gun owners is not
reasonable. Why anyone would argue against background checks before a gun
can be purchased is beyond me. Simply put: we have to start somewhere. I don’t
understand the need for assault weapons outside of the military & police
force but that should be a separate discussion at a later time. Let’s get a
handle on those who own, buy & sell weapons first. Law abiding gun owners
should be backing this provision! It
may not be the perfect answer but what’s wrong with making it more difficult
for those who should not have a weapon in their possession to get one in the
first place? Pass the check, have the
freedom to buy. Fail & we close off ownership to someone who we all should
be happy, gun owner or not, was refused the right to buy a gun. It won’t
completely stop the wrong people from having a weapon but even if it has the
smallest effect on keeping guns out of the wrong hands, in my mind it is worth
it. If you don’t think so…..it’s time for you to look into the eyes of those
parents who lost their children in Newtown and tell them why.
