Pandora's box

I’m in shock by what I have been reading lately about the latest shootings going on in this country. It’s really no surprise that we continue to allow this to happen, but it’s horribly tragic nonetheless. What’s the most lamentable about this situation is that we bring it on ourselves by doing nothing substantial to control it. This troubles me greatly.

Every time something like this happens, it only accentuates a problem that we have created and are in denial about. It may not be as hyped by the media, depending on the news worthy value, but it happens to some degree every day in nearly every city in this country, large or small. Drive by shootings, murders, robberies, and assorted accidental deaths all seem to involve a gun type of weapon with unbelievable regularity.

Our illustrious politicians, for all their rhetoric and expressions of commendation and desire to do something, really end up doing nothing except doing whatever they need to do to assure their own survival as a politician. They are held hostage by one of the largest and well-organized lobbies in the USA. I’m talking about the NRA. I believe the NRA serves a good purpose, but its lobbyists do not. They regularly find ways to block important and necessary legislation, that our (seemingly) spineless politicians will not push through, for fear of upsetting the NRA, or creating a row with their NRA loving constituents.

The common sentiment is something like, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” They are correct in this simple statement, but solving the solving the problem of needless deaths is going to require a complicated and radical solution.

I view a simple mathematical formula to state the situation like this:
Hu + Gn + Lc + X = Dt
Hu = a person
Gn = a gun
Lc = Legislation and control
X(y) = the unknown factor (I‘ll explain in a moment)
Dt = dead things (other humans, animals, etc.)

The math is really simple when you think about it. To control one side of the equation, you must balance out the equation by modifying the other side. To have fewer dead things, you must reduce something on the other side of the equation. As the population increases (Hu), doing nothing to other factors increases Dt.

The X(y) element included above are things we have no control over. Education, love of the sport, responsibility for our own actions, complying with existing laws, racial bigotry, religious radicalism, mental stability, narcissist ideals, criminal predilection, are just a sample of the unpredictable factors. Try as we might, we will never get a handle on these. "Need" does not calculate. With everything else in proper stability, need should not be a factor. That’s why we have law enforcement (however, see factors of X(y) for extenuating factors).

I am not against the ownership of guns. I have owned several. I also feel that guns for hunting for food is one thing. Gun ownership for any other reason is a questionable activity for anyone other than sport or the historical collector. Handguns are only made for one purpose, period.

The 2nd amendment was created at a time in this country’s history when we needed it. It doesn’t carry the same meaning as it did when it was first written, and is subject to every interpretation possible that will justify any given purpose. It’s a Pandora’s box we can never close again.

I’m no more a fan of increased legislation than I am of the NRA lobbyists, but politicians will have to grow some and create a workable and sustainable foundation to enable us to live free of the existing situation, but allow each of us to keep our individual freedoms.