Tuesday, January 22, 2013

At least a conversation on guns?

Last month's horrific shooting should in the very least force people to rationally have a discussion on gun control. What's really necessary? What's actually infringement on our rights, and what's just fancy new assault weapon technology that didn't exist 50 years ago? In California, Republicans, who outnumber Democrats in the House 233-200, would need to jump on board, at least a couple, in order for any changes to take effect. That seems unlikely. But what's really unnerving is the lack of willingness to discuss. One side wants all these changes carte blanche. The other side won't even budge despite extraneous circumstances. Is there a middle ground? At this point probably not, we'll continue with our culture of guns and continue to face the consequences of said culture. No, I don't think it's the guns themselves, but we have to take a hard look at the way we perceive these firearms and whether it's us who have to change, or the legislation. One thing is for sure, nobody NEEDS assault weapons, but the ban on them will unlikely reduce mass shootings. Save lives? Probably, reduce shootings? Doubt it.