GUNS CARS AND BOOZE

Not necessarily in that order. This comment appeared on AOL about a week ago. The system was its usual wonky self and MY comment wouldn't post. So I saved it until I could take it out and play with it. I'm sure that if I'd taken some philosophy classes I could hang a fancy label on this litany, but why bother.

"What is it about liberals that they simply will not address the root cause of ANY real issue? It's always a twisted, generalized view. Let's apply the classic liberal logic to another concern in our country. In 2011 32,000+ people died vehicle related accidents and 9,800+ were alcohol related...so why no outcry to ban vehicles or alcohol???? Isn't the vehicle the problem? Isn't the alcohol responsible? Anybody can climb behind the wheel and race down a highway with a tankful of fuel...basically a bomb on wheels, and nobody has a problem with that. Why? Maybe because doing so would infringe on your rights...eh? How can an individual who CHOOSES to commit such a horrific act NOT be responsible? Don't hide behind the guise of "saving the lives of our children" and then stand in support of abortion. Radical gun control laws will not, can not, and have not worked...ever. YOU CAN NOT DISPUTE THE STATISTICS OF THOSE AREAS WHERE GUN LAWS ARE IN PLACE. I also find the number of shootings that have occurred under the biggest anti-gun administration in the history of our country quite suspicious to say the least."

This was a comment on one of the mind numbing shooting stories that keep coming down the pike.
God, where do you start?  Cars are meant for transportation. Before you can drive you have pass a written test and a driver’s test to prove that can drive the damn thing. After you buy a car you have to register it with the state and you have to renew that registration regularly. If you don’t, you’ll eventually get pulled over, get ticketed and have to pay the fine. Most states require you to at least have a minimum of liability insurance. Get caught without that and you’ll probably get left on the side of the road after they tow your car.
Get caught driving drunk? If you’re lucky the least you’ll face is a suspended license. Kill somebody and you’ll probably end up in prison.

At the very least a gun buyer should have to prove that they’re sane enough and responsible enough to own a gun. Proof of a hunter’s safety class would be good. Answering some simple multiple choice questions might help. Questions like. I bought my kid a kiddie sized rifle. Should he/she be allowed to use it without adult supervision? Or, is it evidence that I’m a responsible parent/gun owner when I pose with my lap baby chewing on the muzzle of my semi automatic pistol? Do you have a gun safe and do you use it?

Frankly I’m beyond sick and tired of being told that we can’t work to prevent gun violence, wars, whatever until we ban abortions.There’s at least one set of statistics that estimates the number of pregnancies that fail naturally at about twenty five percent. And that’s just the women who know they were pregnant to start with. No count on the number of eggs that just plain fail to implant in the first place. I guess that makes whoever is running the universe the biggest “abortionist” of all. Honestly, I wish some of these fetus worshippers would show the same concern after the baby hits atmosphere as they do while it’s still in the womb.

As for that last conspiracy crack at the end. Give me a freakin’ break. It’s beyond the pale. Beyond obscenity.  I just finished the first book in Taylor Branch’s trilogy on America in the King Years. The litany of beatings, mayhem and murder is beyond depressing. All that violence didn’t go away when we passed the Civil Rights Act. It went underground. But not very far.

Want to know the cause of these senseless gun deaths? Go look in the mirror. The violence is in us. It’s like a drug. It’s an addictionI ran across a crack on another gun story. Something along the lines of “I live in Alaska. We have a saying up here. The bigger the truck, the smaller the _______. I guess the same is true of some gun owners. Especially the guys (and it does always seem to be a guy) who thinks it's cool to show up at the local Starbucks with a rifle hanging off his back. 

I don't want to take away your lock and load pacifier. I don't want to ban your security blanket. I do believe that you should have to show the same level of competence and ability to handle your gun as I had to in order to get and keep my driver's license.