[PPRAANet] [MHDXA] School shooting

[NØABC -- Dennis]

(I don't think this will make it to the groups that I am not a member of.)

Brian,

It is not my intent to create or further argument in any way, but I feel 
compelled to mention my thoughts, in part relative to your statements.

I'll preface my remarks with >>> below....


-----Original Message----- 

It isn't the guns. It's people who have lost or have no morals, no sense of 
right or wrong.
>>> More accurately, these are all mentally imbalanced people, and as such, 
>>> may or may not have affected morals or senses of right or wrong. I am 
>>> sure that some do actually have that sense of right or wrong, and 
>>> subsequently take their own lives as they realize what they have done. 
>>> That, more so than the idea of escaping responsibility for their 
>>> actions.

If access really was the issue then there would be no problems with meth, 
heroine or any other illegal drug. It's the people and the choices they make 
that cause harm to others.
>>> I'm not sure about your intent with the first sentence, but I don't know 
>>> of any instances of illegal drugs being the weapon used in mass murders.


If it were the inanimate object we would also need to change access to or 
ban baseball bats, furniture, automobiles, airplanes, rivers, lakes, 
streams, mountains, food, tobacco, knives, surgical instruments, and any 
other inanimate object responsible for human death.
>>> Of all of the examples of inanimate objects you have listed, only 
>>> airplanes and automobiles have been used as weapons of mass destruction. 
>>> On the contrary, automatic and semi-automatic weapons and large capacity 
>>> magazines are all designed for maximum repetitive destruction or 
>>> killing, whereas mountains and tobacco are not. (Well, maybe a case 
>>> could be made for tobacco! (I am a former smoker.))




I want to call attention to a clip from West Wing, which is pertinent here. 
It's from:
http://westwingquotes.tumblr.com/post/37919328435/bartlets-third-state-of-the-union-2-13

"Congressman Shallick: But this White House uses the first amendment to 
protect flag burning, to protect pornography, to ban school prayer. Why, 
when the second amendment clearly says that the federal government will not 
infringe upon a citizen's -
Toby: Because it doesn't.
Shallick: - right to keep and bear arms -
Toby: It doesn't say that.
Shallick: Toby!
Toby: In fact, it doesn't say that at all. The only way it says that at all 
is if you remove some words from it.
Shallick: Oh, look. Will you -
Toby: It says "a well-regulated militia, being necessary for the security of 
the free state...the government shall not infringe." The words regulated and 
militia are in the first sentence. I don't think the Framers were thinking 
of three guys in a Dodge Durango.
Shallick: Well, you don't really know what the Framers were thinking, do 
you?
Toby: No. But I do know that if you combine the populations of Great 
Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, and 
Australia, you've got a population roughly the size of the United States. We 
had 32,000 gun deaths last year and they had 112. Do you think it's because 
Americans are more homicidal by nature? Or do you think it's because those 
guys have gun control laws?"


Again, my intent is NOT to argue, but to simply get some of my thoughts 
about it out there. If this country could accomplish getting mankind on the 
moon, then we should be able to figure out a way, or ways, to prevent these 
things from happening WAY too often.

Thanks for some leeway in reflecting via reflector - I'll stop now!

73

Dennis