guns don’t kill people, bullets do
by Emma Onom
Published: February 20, 2008
Less than a year after the tragedy at Virginia Tech, a former student at another university has chosen to take the lives of innocent students. The senseless crime has many people wondering what can be done to make the world a safer place, and how to keep weapons out of the hands of killers.
While the gut reaction of many citizens is to cry “gun control,” it is necessary to consider what your liberties are worth to you. Removing the rights of law-abiding citizens to own guns is a rather hasty band-aid fix to what people believe is the problem.
Of course, there are scores of people on both ends of the argument over whether guns or people kill people. If you want to state the obvious, a gun may not do much good without bullets, which tend to kill. But taking away the right to own a gun does not remove the intent of a criminal.
When there’s a will, there’s a way.
It turns out there are quite a few things in the country that are illegal, but somehow people still do bad things. We’ve tried to tell people they can’t use cocaine, heroine, meth and other drugs, but they just won’t listen. We’ve told kids and convicts they can’t own guns, but somehow they still get their hands on them.
Now and then there are shooting rampages committed by a person who legally owns their guns. There are just as many, if not more, incidences involving someone who shouldn’t have a gun. If you would like to remove my right to own a gun and protect myself, I guess we can just hope people who have illegally obtained these weapons will just decide not to hurt anyone anymore.
I certainly don’t want to be insensitive to those who have lost a loved one. These crimes have a far-reaching effect on everyone. I didn’t know anyone who was hurt or killed in the Trolley Square shooting in Salt Lake City, but I still cried. And I’m glad the off-duty police officer was carrying his concealed weapon and was able to do something.
I can never understand the push to take away our right to bear arms. I haven’t seen the move work much in Washington D.C., and that may be due to the fact that other things kill people too. Even if someone can’t get their hands on a gun, there are a number of legal options for a killer. There are always knives, sharp sticks, hands and box cutters, to name a few.
I guess if taking away guns is the answer, maybe we should get rid of anything dangerous so nobody will make bad choices. For starters, everyone should wear mittens so it’s more difficult to get a grip on someone’s neck or something sharp. And for that matter, lets stay away from sharp things in general and just work with safety scissors just in case.
And don’t forget to WALK those back to the art bin, kids.
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