And America seems to be suffering from a shortage of grown-ups. This is just bass-ackwards:
… The tragedy in Connecticut will convince communities across the country to cut other spending in favor of funding greater security measures, including adding armed guards at schools, said Peter Pochowski, the former executive director of the National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officers…
Ideas have consequences, and we keep tripping ourselves up because we’re using the wrong words to embody the ideas we’re not thinking through.
A gun is a tool — a potentially dangerous tool, inherently at risk for misuse with terrible consequences. Owning a gun is a job requirement for some people, a utility for others (there are people who really do need the meat), and a form of recreation and/or enjoyment to many more. You know, like a car.
But we don’t let twelve-year-olds drive, not even the ones who consider themselves mature enough to handle the responsiblity. We don’t let anyone drive without passing a test, and obtaining an ID. We allow the nanny state to decide how fast we’re allowed to drive on the public roads, and even while grumbling about paying for uniformed agents to enforce those restrictions, we’re outraged by scofflaws & idiots endangering other drivers. We have laws requiring licensed car-owners to have insurance, and forbidding people who’ve been enjoying recreational intoxicants from driving. Enforcement of those laws used to be pretty spotty, well within living memory, but now that we understand how expensive even a minor fender-bender and how deadly even a tipsy driver can be, the social sanctions are probably as important as the increasingly intolerant legal restrictions. We insist that even good parents with spotless driving records use car seats and safety belts, because accidents happen, even to excellent drivers on short trips.
I can’t buy a box of decongestants without showing ID and signing a register, for fear that some sad addict might make a nuisance for the local authorities by attempting to cook meth in his kitchen. Surely someone buying bullets — another product with a high potential for misuse — can be asked to do as much.
Dear Gun Owner: I don’t want to ‘control’ your guns, I want you to control your guns. And if you are not mature enough to demonstrate such control, then are you mature enough to be trusted with such grown-up tools?
Gun safety regulations. As in that “well-regulated militia” clause used by our Founding Fathers in the sacred Second Amendment, becasue they were grown-ups who knew that guns were tools, not objects of religious veneration.
Gun SAFETY Regulation. Because Guns Are For Grown-UpsPost + Comments (50)