all the death and mayhem in Orlando, I'm just at a loss from a world that keeps rushing out to buy AR-15's whenever another lunatic uses one to terrorize US again. It's hard for me to imagine how the murderers and the potential victims will all sneak weapons into church or the club for impending gun battles.
Depending on where you stand on this issue, Dylann Roof is not a terrorist, and Omar Mateen was more than just an American tormented by issues of religion and sexuality. He was an ISIS operative.
I don't really believe either ideas to be accurate, but it is the best way to explain the unexplained mystery of domestic terrorism and the NRA.
As it stands, the NRA has millions of people running to seek a solution that has yet to solve anything. While the original purchase is well tracked, those panicked gun purchases can eventually be legally transferred to anyone, sight unseen, through online transactions or gun show sales that are not tracked or regulated.
I don't want to be numb to death, but what hope is there when the same people who totally get the importance of tracking car exchanges, or regulations around flying so we don't have terrorism in flight, consider better gun registration and a terror watch list ban as an assault on the right to bear arms.
The notion of rights being more important than responsible ownership only applies to guns in America. Flying in an essentially non lethal airplane demands way more invasion of our privacy. Nude xrays in fact. Guns remain a real addiction that only God knows when or if we'll ever be cured from them.
Gun advocates insist that we must return to the days of the wild west, when villains had to worry about vigilantism. To the best of my knowledge, villains were not dissuaded by all the legalized carrying that we used to allow, nor do they avoid robbing banks now just because of known armed resistance.
As things stand, our greatest obstacle remains the fact that any sensible legislation goes on the Obama legacy and represents the first loss the NRA has seen in years. Which means, this is not about sensibility and reasonable laws that will help US try something more than making gun sellers filthy rich, it is about politics, power and leverage that gun nuts are not going to relinquish willingly.
Our current conditions would almost encourage the NRA to back ISIS, since their mayhem is so damn profitable to the cause of gun sales overall.
If they have lassoed the Socialist, Bernie Sanders, solidly into their corner, who is not an NRA sycophant? Whenever war breaks out, they funnel firearms to both sides. Apparently, they are now doing the same for both sides of domestic terrorism, yet WE are still waiting for just one of these gun toting good guys to bring their fear inspired, self defense assault weapons to the club or church like these killers do.
No. I'm not just numb, I'm defeated because the 2nd Amendment benefits the gun dealers and the gun addicts way too much. Neither is ready or willing to see the wide reaching impact of their gun lust, and congress has just enough addicts or friends of the dealers to insure status quo.
Until further notice, every attempt to turn away from this endless cycle of self destruction will look like that intervention when the addict just isn't ready to change.
For now, I'm leaving this intervention for the rest of you to deal with. I'll return when the patient stops shaking and finally sits still long enough to listen to reason.
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