So you all have heard of the CT shootings. Since then, I've heard everything from "guns should be banned!" to "more guns are the solution!" I'm not here to say I have a solution... If I did, I certainly would be declaring it for all to hear. But I do have some thoughts.
The banning of guns incites the most thoughts on this topic, mostly because I don't feel banning anything makes the problem go away. Sure, it sounds great on paper, and those that support this idea are not the ones that would do anything to kill people, but the people to who this law is directed are exactly the people that DON'T follow the law. It's just a sad, unfortunate fact. To state the obvious, criminals, by definition, don't follow the law. Banning guns would only ensure the crazy people are the ones purchasing them on the inevitable black market- the rest of the sane gun-toting population wouldn't risk breaking the law and being punished. Okay, maybe some would, but the ones with those dark, sinister motives definitely would.
Let's look back in our history. Prohibition- banned alcohol. But did it stop people from buying it on the black market and drinking it? Nope. We also made abortions illegal. That didn't stop women from seeking the procedure. And of course, heroin, cocaine, and meth are illegal, but according to the UN, drug abuse kills 200,000 people each year. If we banned guns, it wouldn't stop people from purchasing them. It would just make it impossible for states to conduct background checks and keep tabs on who buys them.
Now, let's talk about the flip side of the argument. More gun presence in schools may be effective, but it doesn't always make sense to fight fire with fire. It certainly wouldn't have been plausible to think several weeks ago that an elementary school in CT would need one. Would an armed officer have prevented this kind of massacre? I don't know. Probably not- after all, if a person is so deranged as to want to light up a first grade classroom, they're not going to let anything stop them.
What we have here doesn't seem to be a gun issue as much as a mental health issue. What I propose is to strongly suggest a yearly mental health check up. It makes sense to me- you get a yearly physical check up, why not a yearly mental check up? I think it's a start.
As far as the gun issue, I don't have any solutions or ideas or theories. But I think we can all agree that this shooting was a tragedy and something needs to change to prevent these kinds of things from happening at supposed safe schools.
What are your thoughts?
