Gun control, AZ incident and crazies that can buy guns…
Should anyone just be able to buy one?
I had an emotional and intense debate on Facebook about gun control sparked by a YouTube video I posted of an interview with the father of one of the victims of the shootings in Arizona. I was surprised that instead of calling for more Brady-style laws, he instead said the shooting was “the price of liberty.” Even though I appreciated the sentiment, one of my friends took that to task. No one should have to sacrifice their little girl for liberty, and my friend was right about that. Quite right. I don’t think this was the price of liberty. I think this is the price of negligence.
There is a problem with just selling guns to anyone–for someone who is mentally unstable, an instant sale of a gun means he has it in his hands and can go kill. Even perhaps someone who has just been in a fight and who is hopping mad and screaming for revenge, it is all too easy to just run down to the store, pick up a 9mm and shoot someone up. I think we can all agree that this shouldn’t be allowed to happen.
However, I have a very big problem with the notion that in order to have safety, we have to sacrifice liberty. The idea that the only way we can protect innocent lives is for the government to step in and either ban guns, or require that everyone register and prove they are mentally fit to carry a gun, well that’s an idea I just can’t swallow.
