Killing a man in the United States is faster and easier than ordering fast food at a drive-thru.
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He died. In the ambulance or at the hospital, I’m not sure. But he died. According to preliminary reports, he was sitting on his porch smoking a cigarette when a man decided he shouldn’t exist anymore.
I heard the shots from my living room. By the time I heard them, they were already over. That’s how quickly a man can leave this world forever.
The gun control debate went round and round with the lowest common denominator shouting at the top of their lungs until the will of the majority of Americans was ignored because freedom. Well, that’s exactly what the gunman has— freedom. He’s free to take as many lives as possible, and you’re free to die. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. That’s nonsense. There is no gun in the world that could have saved that guy smoking a cigarette on his porch. From what I can tell, his killer didn’t even get out of the car. He didn’t even have to put his car in park to end another man. In the United States, killing a man is easier and faster than ordering a double cheeseburger. Also, considering the price of ammunition, it’s cheaper. I think I’m in the majority when I say that taking another person’s life should require more than three pounds of pressure applied with your index finger. A ‘come-hither’ motion and you get to play god of death for a little while.
I understand the impulse to advocate for more guns. I have a couple guns. I’ve sat in my house before, waiting next to my pistol because I thought someone was going to come to my house with a pistol of his own. That’s not freedom. That’s fear. For so many people, the right to keep and bear arms infringes on their right to live their lives free of mortal fear. If that somebody had come to my house with a firearm, nothing would have probably happened. Or I might have died; he might have died. Maybe neither of us would have died (I’m a terrible shot with a revolver. Especially when my hands are trembling).
So I understand why some turn to more guns as a solution to too many guns. In short, no one wants to get shot. The problem is that a gun is purely offensive. A bullet has never blocked another bullet. No one that I know of has ever blocked a bullet with a gun. Guns aimed at other humans are, at best, fear-creators. At worst, they’re life-enders. That’s what we’re committed to: the right to keep and induce fear. I think most gun-owners would be lying if they said they didn’t enjoy that “right” at least a little bit.
Put it to your shoulder. Pull the slide back. Aim down the sights. Breathe out slowly. There you go. Now you become death, destroyer of as many as the magazine can hold. In America, that’s as many as money can buy.
Photo—Flickr/ Naval History
Statistically speaking, it is most likely that this shooter used a handgun (all handgun homicides in 2012 = 8500, fbi.gov) and not an AK variant rifle (all rifle homicides, not just AKs = 6200, fbi.gov). Handgun homicides are prevalent. Of the roughly 32,000 gun deaths annually in this country (that is about half the casualties of the Vietnam War), 20,000 are by suicide. I agree to some extent to the claim that firearms create a sense of power and fear; and at the same time, I think the reality of this topic is that there will always be firearms. Even… Read more »
Daniel, you imply that all soldiers that have taken a life in combat call themselves murderers. Take it from that soldier, no, we don’t. Guns are a tool, nothing more. The bulk of violent crime committed is not from firearms. As previously stated in the comments above arguing gun control is a circular argument that will more than likely end up in a loud, opinionated screaming match. I have been to war, and I own firearms and beyond a mission or defense of fellow soldiers I have never felt the need to brandish a firearm to get the upper hand.… Read more »
I like this post, but unforunately this, like many other issues (Abortion Rights, Same Sex Marriage, Liveable Wage(s), Immigration, Etc) will be a never-ending circle with virtually Zero Solutions: *Criminals won’t Obey Gun Control Laws- neither do Rapists, Physical Theives, Drunk Drivers, and Identity Theives, just to name a few) *Soldiers AT WAR are licensed To Kill, or else it would Not be War or Combat *Guns were Originally Created SIMPLY to KILL; We as Human Beings placed what “Was the Premise” that IF a Civilian- someone Not Law Enforcement or Miltary Combatanants- Ever Brandishes a Firearm, He/She/They BETTER be… Read more »
“Gone are the days when Men settled disputes with Hand-to-Hand Fighting, 1-on-1, without Weapons or Objects.”
I think I prefer the days when men settled disputes with their words, like peaceful gentlemen. Hand-to-hand fighting doesn’t solve disputes, it only causes bruising at best and death at worst. Violence doesn’t become okay just because no guns are present.
How many people are killed every day in Somalia or other Third World countries? How many people are shot by police and Federal Agents?
I’m not sure what I’m supposed to take away from this article. The most concrete thing in here seems to be, in short, “It’s possible to commit murder in the United States.” The rest, I’m really not sure about. I’m sorry that someone was murdered near you. I’ve never experienced that, and I can only imagine that it’s awful. I get the impression that you think it’d be better for people not to own guns, because you think they’re only useful for murder and not for defense. You say, “There is no gun in the world that could have saved… Read more »
“That’s why I own guns. For defending life.” Yes. You ‘defend life’ by (possibly) taking the life of another in a way that doesn’t make you feel accountable for inflicting horrible injuries or even death on another person. A gun is (too) easy. Would that same person still try to kill you or try to incite fear by waving a knife around? I bet holding a knife and really using it to hurt or kill someone actually takes more of whatever it is that such people feel than holding a gun. A gun has never really saved a life, because… Read more »
the way i put my own personal opinion is this:
i want the RIGHT to own a (reasonable) firearm, but i don’t want to live anywhere that i would feel it necessary to exercise that right.
Sounds like a slippery slope to me. If everyone has that right, they may very well exercise it. If they exercise it, there are a lot more guns out there, in the hands of everyone, good, bad, citizen, criminal, adult, child. Would it still be safe to live there? And if not, where would you move to? We all start thinking like that, and we all buy guns, then we run out of “safe” places to live. Christian makes an excellent point. We think of gunplay too much like what we see in movies. Bullets move real fast. We can’t… Read more »