America and Guns

Last weekend America suffered through the worst mass shooting in their violent history. The second amendment to their constitution provides the right to bear arms and as such a lot of Americans own guns.

Guns are not the problem.

I am not going to whip into the guns don't kill people, people kill people argument. Although this is true it really isn't the problem.

America has a perverse understanding of firearms.

There are a lot of reasons to own a gun. You can use a gun to hunt and help feed your family. You can shoot guns for sport, in fact it is an Olympic sport. However, owning a gun for protection is not what a gun is designed for.

Firearms were designed to project the users force beyond his or her arm's length and inflict harm on the someone else. Guns do not stop bullets or knives. Guns do not prevent bombs from exploding. Guns are an offensive not a defensive tool.

Very often gun advocates say that they own a gun for protection. They talk about how they have to keep a loaded weapon under their pillow to protect their home. Keeping a loaded weapon under your pillow is not going to protect you, it may get your kid shot when they are unsupervised in you your room or a bullet to the head while you sleep.

Now, I'm not anti-gun. I've shot guns. I may shoot a gun again in the future. However, I do not live in a delusional world where guns protect people and the shooting in Las Vegas is an example of this.

It is often stated that if I have a gun, I will brandish my weapon if threatened and shoot first if necessary to protect myself. That's all well and good, as long as you know someone is about to shoot you. A gun in your ankle holster won't help you if you don't know you are in the crosshairs of an assault rifle 100 yards away.

America needs to change it's attitude about guns. It needs to understand what they do and what they can't do.

Guns don't kill people but guns don't protect people either.