After the horrific theatre shootings in Colorado, the gun control debate has been reopened, at least in the USA.
My views on gun control in Canada are public knowledge. Legislating against things that are already crimes makes about as much sense as telling a mountain it's not allowed to be where it is and expecting it to move. I like our licensing system for the ownership of firearms. It ensures that all licensed gun owners are educated about gun safety, and prevents the need for a prohibitively expensive registry because we already have a registry of licensed gun owners. It's a good system, as long as the logic-impaired in Ontario and Quebec don't fix what ain't broke.
Now American gun control is an entirely different story.
Our neighbours to the south (and northwest) have a constitutional right to bear arms. This makes gun control, education, and licensing much more difficult, if not impossible.
The USA has a choice to make, and only two options that I can see. Shit or get off the pot. Your two choices are thus: Give everyone access to this right and encourage them to exercise it at all times, or take it away and enact a system more like what we currently have in Canada.
Choice 2:
If the American government tries to repeal this right, they will have to deal with a great deal of resistance. As a Japanese admiral said circa WWII, there is a gun hiding behind every blade of grass. It is insanely difficult to take away a right once it is given. It's not a privilege like it is in Canada.Choice 1:
Give everyone a gun. For his or her 18th birthday, every American citizen should be given a .22 calibre rifle by the government, and taught how to safely use it. With rights come responsibility. If it is everyone's right to own a firearm, then it is also their responsibility to know how to do it properly and ensure that everyone around them is safe from the misuse of a firearm. How much violent crime do you suppose there would be if everyone was packing? Who in their right mind would wave a gun around at a bank for a robbery if they know that everyone in that bank also has a gun?It may be too soon to comment, but how many shots would the psychopath had gotten off in that theatre if 80% of the people in that theatre were carrying weapons? As soon as the crowd realized this guy was firing live rounds, he would have become swiss cheese.
Now, I know both choices I've offered here are extreme and difficult, but it's true. Shit or get off the pot. If you continue to do it half-assed, you're going to continue to have the same problems.
