Children gunned downed in school by a troubled youth armed with assault weapons acquired from his mother that he murdered. Firefighters ambushed answering a call to a house fire set by a sniper with black market weapons who was convicted and jailed for murdering his grandmother and suspected of murdering his sister before setting his trap.
These problems run much deeper than gun control and its stale arguments of partisan politics serve only to delay needed action. How do we prevent assault weapons from getting into the hands of those capable of committing such acts? How do we protect our children and ourselves from those people who undeniably exist at least until we get those weapons away from them? Weapons is a more inclusive word than guns.
Violent criminals and weapons should never co-exist so why do they? What if our cops and courts spent as much or more time and effort finding and penalizing illegal weapon buyers and sellers as they do bags of pot? A mandatory life sentence for anyone convicted of a violent crime ever again found in possession of a deadly weapon might be more of a deterrent than current failed measures. A convicted illegal weapon dealer should be charged as an accessory to each and every Class X offense committed with every one of the illegal weapons sold.
Convicted felons can’t be able to hide behind the 2nd Amendment. This is 2013. Their right to bear arms is the lowest of low hanging forbidden fruit.
Those who display aggressive violent or suicidal behavioral patterns in view of another should be reported by any witness of it and their right to bear arms restricted until and unless they receive medical/legal clearance. It is the responsibility of every witness of violent behavior to report it. Those agencies charged with providing public safety must then employ the technology we have readily available to notify weapons dealers of restricted individuals. Similar technology should provide notification to social services. Aggressive violence and suicidal behavior can’t be armed through privacy rights or protected by the 2nd Amendment.
It should be required for anyone detained for aggressive violence or suicidal behavior to turn in any weapons they have without additional penalty — legally returned only with proper clearance.
Emergency measures must be taken now to address the armed violence. Even the NRA says that we need to put armed police officers in every one of our schools.
A comprehensive program like described above needs funded. Guns should not be banned. The right to bear arms must not be infringed. But every bullet and blade should be assessed a special tax to pay for the public safety now jeopardized by a system failure that has allowed such deadly weapons of today to flow freely into the hands of deranged and troubled minds.
Prayers and thoughts remain with the victims and their loved ones at Sandy Hook Elementary School, at West Webster Fire Department, at Northern Illinois University and to those of the 500-plus slain in the streets of Chicago alone this year. May God grant us the courage and wisdom to take the necessary action to address the problems we face.
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I wish the right wingers would figure out that there are no unrestricted “rights” including the 2nd Amendment right to own guns. I believe the 1st Amendment trumps the 2nd anyway. Don’t we have the right to life and not be at the mercy of psychos with military weapons? Since Bush let the assault weapons ban expire there has been an expansion of the ownership of very dangerous weapons in America. It is hard to get the “genie” back into the bottle. We have made our country a more dangerous place for our citizens. I hope the NRA and gun manufacturers are happy. Now the gun lobby thinks we need armed guards everywhere to maintain public safety. If this isn’t the most ridiculous idea ever? I hear the argument that some people feel the need for military weapons to protect their home. What is next, the need to own Laws Rockets, RPG’s, and shoulder mounted surface to air missiles? I would prefer to be attacked with a knife, crossbow, or by arson instead of a military weapon. I would at least have a chance to survive. Some of these gun lovers want these weapons to potentially fight their own government. Maybe they want to secede like some in the South have proposed?. I say bye bye.
Stephen, the very purpose of the 2nd Amendment — directly related to self survival — was the right for citizens to bear arms against their own government should it become tyrannical. The essence of the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments is to defend individual citizens against governmental abuse.
The 2nd Amendment should not be infringed. But it was not written for criminals and the deranged. Throughout our history those individuals have been disarmed by force if necessary. The temporarily impaired have been so disarmed in the wildest of towns like Dodge City and Tombstone. See: http://www.constitution.org/2ll/2ndschol/89vand.pdf
There is a difference between 18th and 19th Century weapons and those of today. Military weapons in the wrong hands can and make a mass murderer out of any coward. If people want them they should join the military, they will be given one. Many innocents were killed in the Wild West but today people tend to either not know about it or have forgotten about it. We shouldn’t go back to those good old days.
The violent crime described here falls under two basic categories, poverty motivated and politically motivated.
A policy of full employment and gainful opportunity for all, under a constitutional form of government, would resolve most of the poverty motivated crime we have today. Instead we have a policy of mass unemployment and artificial scarcity to keep the military and prison slave-labor industry running smoothly. Very few potential gang or military recruits are going to choose to put their life on the line when a living-wage job or other source of opportunity is readily available. Universal employment or opportunity coupled with legalization of most recreational drugs, would put a permanent end to their source of income and most poverty motivated crime.
The politically motivated type of violent crime, although it accounts for only a tiny fraction of violent crime, seems to gain much more attention perhaps due to the ‘senseless’ nature of such crimes, often against innocent victims. The Cole Hall shootings at NIU were only possible due to the lack of return fire and the Illinois policy against concealed carry. Even a relatively untrained person returning fire at the shooter would have altered the outcome of this event significantly.
The worst case scenario is the school shooting where it is impractical to arm the students because of their young age. This lack of defense seems to be an attraction for the politically motivated shooter. I don’t see the problem with installing metal detectors, having the school staff concealed carry, and locking the entrances during school hours. This wouldn’t deter the motivated shooter, but the noise of gunfire blowing open a lock would be enough to put people on alert.
There is no point in limiting gun ownership for suicidal individuals when there are many other ways to reach the same result – hanging, train tracks, smoke filled garage. Also, there is no point in categorically unarming millions of ‘mentally ill’ citizens and leaving them at the mercy of violent criminals. Limiting gun ownership for ‘felons’ is mostly folly as well when their weapon of choice is usually the illegal, unregistered, untraceable weapon. If you could magically eliminate every gun on the planet, you would instead be hearing about the 500 stabbings, 500 cross-bow shootings, or 500 arson killings in Chicago per year.
In short, we are talking about systemic problems once again, and the return to a constitutional form of government is the only reliable course of action.
Military recruits I served with and as didn’t choose to serve because of the pay. Education and transition to adulthood after serving was used as justification for some but in my experience most served from a sense of the call for duty and the challenge to answer it. I don’t know but my guess is gang recruits are coerced for self serving purposes.
Your points in keeping guns away from the suicidal and mentally ill are ludicrous, quite frankly. The deadly force of a gun does not provide for second chances or misunderstandings. Someone who has given up on their life likely has little or no regard for the lives of few others.
Stolen guns account for only about 10% to 15% of guns used in crimes, according to the ATF. One of the most common ways criminals get guns is through straw purchase sales — a legal buyer purchases a gun for an illegal owner. That’s a crime. Criminals get guns from legally licensed but corrupt at-home and commercial gun dealers. That’s a crime. Another large source of guns used in crimes are unlicensed street dealers who either get their guns through illegal transactions with licensed dealers, straw purchases, or from gun thefts. That’s a crime.
Enforce the law. There’s nothing unconstitutional about that.
According to the research of Philippe Bourgois, many voluntary gang members join because they can earn respect if they are in a gang, something they will not get if they work at McDonald’s. One of his books he titled, “In Search of Respect.” His research concluded that respect is often more important than money. Of course, the lack of a quality education is another factor.
Anyone wanting to reduce the number of gang members better be giving very high respect to our neighbors involved in the service industries. The guy standing behind the fryer is our neighbor. The cashier at the store is our neighbor. The guy cleaning the hotel is our neighbor. We should all be very thankful that none of them chose to join a gang. We should value and respect everyone who has a job, no matter what kind of job it is.
Well said, Kay. And its not just those working at McDonalds looking for respect. Lots and lots of career workers keep jobs that are less well paid as compared to what they might earn, because they love their existing work, have great relationships with co-workers, etc. Respect is a large part of all that. Let me add another side of the coin to respect…Accountability. We all need it.
“Accountability. We all need it.” Well said Kerry.
Great article Mac McIntyre. This blog is probably better then most opinion pieces in all the news papers.
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” … in my experience most served from a sense of the call for duty and the challenge to answer it.”
You mean like the hero character Tom Cruise in the movie Born On The Fourth Of July? Must have been really delusional times, and I’m glad I wasn’t there to see it.
You are ignoring my argument entirely – that potential gang and military recruits would much rather have a non-violent living-wage job or other opportunity than put their lives at risk. If your “call for duty” included killing people with guns, then your arguments for gun control are hypocritical at best. Why not solve the problem of poverty motivated crime entirely through job creation?
“Your points in keeping guns away from the suicidal and mentally ill are ludicrous, quite frankly.” … “Someone who has given up on their life likely has little or no regard for the lives of few others.”
Your knowledge of the mentally ill as a layman is lacking if you think someone who has been labeled “mentally ill” or “suicidal” is any more dangerous to society than those who are unlabeled. More dangerous to themselves perhaps, and the gun is only one of many options available to solve their problem. If you can provide evidence that the “mentally ill” and “suicidal” are more dangerous to society then please do so.
In the end, gun control is never going to any more effective at preventing gun possession than drug laws are in preventing drug possession. If there is a market for these products, then some poverty stricken individual is always going to be there to supply it. Making the guns and drugs illegal only deepens the culture of violent crime by keeping the prices high and therefore a profitable venture.
Personally, I could really care less about band-aid solutions to the gun and drug war boondoggle. I play to win, and would much rather solve the problem entirely through systematic reform. Try not to get bogged down in the fantasy that any gun control measures are going to have anything beyond a marginal impact on violent crime as a whole.