Once again like Christmas, some kid with a credit card and a subscription to a gun magazine has decided to load up and make the news. At such times, there’s a casualty we seldom consider: the way the broadcaster’s voice sounds too practiced, the way the grief spilling out of the survivors sounds too familiar, the way that the stupid smirks on these murderers’ faces, start to run together. But James Holmes’ victims didn’t die because of “fate,” or as “part of God’s unfathomable plan,” but rather, because in America, a man can order up 6,000 rounds of ammunition as easily as a box of nails, because in America, we believe that making it hard to buy a weapon of mass murder, puts an unnecessary burden on guys who wanna shoot geese.
On the talk shows today and tomorrow, we’ll be told that such tragic deaths help remind us that we never know how much time we have left on Earth. That’s wrong. Such tragedies should teach us that owning weapons of mass murder and massive amounts of ammunition is, by nature, a crime against humanity, as sick and twisted as owning child pornography. These deaths should finally teach us that a man who owns such tools of mass destruction is not out to improve his marksmanship skills, but plans to fantasize about and practice and possibly prepare for the act of killing dozens of people. Holmes’ victims are not dead because of some sad twist of fate, but because Americans haven’t learned that the desire to purchase such weapons is akin to the desire to purchase your very own Auschwitz gas chamber or Medieval torture device. Owning such weapons, together with thousands of rounds of ammunition, is not sport. It’s a mental illness. And the fact that we all know someone who has such weapons displayed on the wall or hidden away ready for action, does not make it any less of an illness. Possessing devices that can quickly murder dozens of people is as vile as owning magazines that encourage sex with children, and should be treated as such, as a sick perversion. What will prevent similar horrors in the future? Calling out the NRA spokesmen you’ll hear on the news over the next few days, the ones that say making loaded military-grade weapons illegal is wrong, because the crooks will get them anyway. Honestly, that makes as much sense as saying that crack cocaine should be legal, because people who want it will get it anyway. But instead, we’ll listen and say, “Oh, he makes a good point.”
So, are we really sickened and saddened by the death of so many young people at a movie theater? Or do we regard their deaths as a fair price to pay for a man’s right to parade around like Rambo in his skivvies?
In any event, the men you hear today on the news justifying such “rights” are as much a menace to society as justifying owning kiddy-porn because the person might not do anything bad. In fact, the pro-gun arguments you hear today will only accomplish one thing: make certain that future James Holmeses will have a smooth path from thought to plan to action.
Jaylon Boyd
Phoenix
Dale Whiting posted at 8:35 am on Sat, Jul 28, 2012.
Jaylon,
Let's simplify your agrument a bit. Calling for responsibility is a bit too stuffy and grown up. Try something simple. "Boys like toys" says it all.
chatmandu002 posted at 11:06 am on Sat, Jul 28, 2012.
Jaylon,
Most gun shoot wounds and killings are by handguns. Restricting certain guns doesn't stop the shooting or killing. There is no stopping a determined and willful evil.
onerebel posted at 12:34 pm on Sat, Jul 28, 2012.
Let me get this straight. Anyone that owns a semi automatic gun for target practice like a AR 15 is " as sick and twisted as owning child pornography., and a man who owns such tools of mass destruction is not out to improve his marksmanship skills, but plans to fantasize about and practice and possibly prepare for the act of killing dozens of people. " WOW ! According to Mr. Boyd there are several million of us sick and twisted gun owners just waiting to be mass murderers. Taking guns away from people would stop killing just like making certain drugs illegal has stopped the selling of illegal drugs. I think Mr. Boyd is the sick, twisted, and Biased one !
Slabside posted at 4:30 pm on Sat, Jul 28, 2012.
Jaylon Boyd is the poster boy of the American Liberal.
Dale Whiting posted at 6:08 pm on Sat, Jul 28, 2012.
See Jaylon,
The boys do like their toys. Why onerebel thinks you compare him, not the arguments supporting gun rights, to porn consumers. Your argument was way over his head.
And Slabside, who treasures his 30+ round magazine for his hand gun so that he can shoot targets [one never knows when the time taken to reload will lead to those targets running off] thinks you are a poster boy.
KISS. Keep it Simplier Stupid! These boys ain't that sophisticated!
Leon Ceniceros posted at 6:45 pm on Sat, Jul 28, 2012.
13% OF ALL MURDERS IN AMERICA ARE COMMITTED USING....KNIVES AND ANOTHER 13% BY OTHER MEANS.
DOES THAT MEAN THAT AMERICA HAS TO TURN THEIR ...GINZU KNIFE SETS INTO PLOWSHARE ???.
BOX CUTTERS WERE USED BY THE 9/11 ISLAMIC TERRORISTS.....DOES THAT MEAN THAT ALL THE STOCKERS IN THE SUPERMARKETS HAVE TO MELT DOWN ALL THEIR BOX CUTTERS AND USE THEIR TEETH AND FINGERNAILS TO OPEN BOXES ????
TIMOTHY MC VEIGH USED "FARMER'S AMMONIUM NITRATE" FERTILIZER TO BLOW UP THE MURRAY BUILDING IN OKLAHOMA CITY....DOES THAT MEAN THAT THE MILLIONS OF FARMERS AND BACKYARD GARDENERS HAVE TO FLUSH THEIR AMMONIUM NITRATE DOWN THE TOILET AND WATCH THEIR CROPS AND GARDENS SHRIVEL UP ????
THERE ARE 100's OF THOUSANDS OF ASSAULT RIFLES OUT IN AMERICA.......DO WE HAVE .........HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF HORRIFIC SHOOTINGS...........THE ANSWER IS NO..........IT'S NOT EVEN 1%.........SO ENOUGH WITH THE LIBERAL ANTI-GUN RANTING AND RHETORIC.
YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION....THEN CHANGE IT......IF NOT THEN DEAL WITH IT.
GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE..................PEOPLE DO.
onerebel posted at 9:42 pm on Sat, Jul 28, 2012.
Well excuse us little people Dale. Not all of us are legends in our own minds like you. So your saying when Jaylon wrote; "owning weapons of mass murder and massive amounts of ammunition is, by nature, a crime against humanity, as sick and twisted as owning child pornography." and," Possessing devices that can quickly murder dozens of people is as vile as owning magazines that encourage sex with children, and should be treated as such, as a sick perversion." Is in no way comparing certain gun owners to being as sick as child pedophiles ? I may not be as sophisticated as you believe you are, but at least I KNOW what Mr. Boyd was implying !
Mike McClellan posted at 7:02 am on Sun, Jul 29, 2012.
The Second Amendment gives us the right to own guns, no doubt about it.
However, can anyone who posts here give a clear rationale for owning an assault weapon like the one the shooter in Colorado had with him or the ones found on the recent arrest of the guy who swore to kill his boss and had an arsenal of weapons at home, including a few assault rifles?
Does anyone here have a good reason for anyone to own an assault rifle?
Slabside posted at 10:52 am on Sun, Jul 29, 2012.
Mike, what is an assault rifle?
Engaged Voter posted at 3:37 pm on Sun, Jul 29, 2012.
"Possessing devices that can quickly murder dozens of people is as vile as owning magazines that encourage sex with children, and should be treated as such, as a sick perversion"
I just wanted to point out that automobiles are devices that can quickly murder dozens of people. So you would prefer all car owners have to registered as a sex offender? LOL
k33j88 posted at 6:43 am on Mon, Jul 30, 2012.
Ah yes, another spirited debate between those of rational thought and those who let their emotions take over. Just coming back home from a liberal, gun-restrictive area of our country, I'm glad to be back to reality. The newspapers and other forms of social media there were rife with gun violence and mayhem.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 2:27 pm on Tue, Jul 31, 2012.
Mike,
If you would have been one of those business owners or home owners in the path of the Watts Rioters and the Rodney King Cop Verdict Rioters....you would have loved to have had an assault rifle to defend your business, your home and your family.
Or maybe not.
VofReason posted at 1:31 pm on Wed, Aug 1, 2012.
Tuchsay to Engaged Voter here. The perfect point. Same for Mike McC- I don't know why anyone would need an assualt rifle, although I will agree with the question of what that means. I cannot see why anyone would need an automatic weapon like an AK47. I don't know why people need 6,000 rounds of ammo. That said, my guess is that based on how many magazine are out there that have the stuff, there are a lot of people who like it and likely have them. Last I checked, this was the only fool who went off crazy and it doesn't happen very often. That puts the odds at nill that if you aren't a crazy nut before you byuy them, you won't become one after. "because in America, a man can order up 6,000 rounds of ammunition as easily as a box of nails"- couldn't he have killed as many or more with the nails?