This couldn't have happened the way it did without guns. This leads to the logic that we need to get rid of guns. I can understand why. That shooting was disgusting. There's no two ways about it. It made us feel vulnerable, as it was an attack on our most vulnerable citizens...the kids.
The Sandy Hook Elementary shootings happened 221 years to the day that the Bill Of Rights were adopted. Almost.
They were adopted December 15th 1791. Sandy Hook happened December 14th 2012. Still, close. Here we are 220 some odd years later and we're hurting enough from this tragedy that we're ready to give our rights back.
It's easy to see all the bad that guns have done, but the good they do, or I should say the bad they prevent, is a different story.
This country has had multiple mass shootings over the years but zero dictators. There have been attempts to squash free speech and they continue to this day, but there has never been a law saying you can't say whatever you want. The second amendment is only the second amendment because the first is freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and the right to petition the government.
That's freedom, freedom, and more freedom. This was written by men who had just fought for these freedoms. After freedom they thought of guns for that reason. Freedom is not free. It has a cost.
There's a reason the occupiers didn't get their asses beat on day one. There's a reason every person that tweets something the government doesn't like doesn't go to jail. Even though, slowly, we see a rise in such cases, they're not happening on a regular basis for a reason. That reason is: An armed public.
This is impossible to prove as no one has ever put it to the test by trying to become the first American dictator. But the threat of the people securing their rights from their government by force if need be is important no less.
I see people tweeting things like "no civilians should be able to own guns." This is not the right way to react to things like this I don't think. We enjoy a lot of freedoms because the public is armed. I hear calls to require background searches for anyone who wants to buy a gun. That sounds reasonable, also, the calls for a ban on assault rifles sounds reasonable. The thing is, neither of those measures would have prevented Sandy Hook. Or Aurora, or many of the other mass shootings.
So, what will happen after these laws are adopted and the next mass shooting happens? Will there be a call to get rid of all guns? If so, that's the same as saying there should be a ban on freedom of religion. The President we have now would probably never call for a ban on free speech, but what about 25 years from now? If we're worried about our children, that should be a worry also.
I've grown up in the midst of gun violence. As a black male born and raised in the inner city I've seen more than my share of gun violence.
I make appeals to young kids in any hood I have a chance to talk to youngsters in. I tell them they have the world in their hands. They respond that they don't feel like they have the world in their hands. That's one of the problems, the youth need to feel like the world is theirs.
This lack of future our kids and young adults can see is fueling the violence in many cases. It's cliche to say now, but it's still true, guns don't shoot people by themselves.
Are we ready to say we're barbarians and we can't control ourselves? Are we ready to say we're powerless to prevent this from happening without jeopardizing our freedoms? Because make no mistake about it, there are people who are capable of reaching the highest realms of our Government (if they're not there already) that don't want us to have the freedom to practice any religion or no religion at all if we choose.
There are people who don't like the fact that we are so free, and they all aren't Arabs.
My point is: Let's just be careful when we start talking about giving our rights back, because the unintended consequences can be worst than the consequences we seek to avoid in the first place.
P.S.
I'm a convicted felon, so I can't legally own a gun, so I'm not making this argument for myself. I'm making it for future generations because I think they deserve to enjoy the same freedoms we do.