About Sandy Hook and gun control…

I guess all the facts are still coming in, but what I last heard was that the shooter’s guns were all legally purchased by his mother, who he also shot, and that she was a kindergarten teacher.

So my first reaction was what the hell kind of a family is that where a mother who is a schoolteacher has multiple guns? The family must have been strange in some respects.

If my fact are wrong forgive me. Data is still being gathered.

My other feelings are, “What can be done about it?”

There are a lot of complicated issues which need to be taken into account. I do believe, like it or not, the U.S. constitution clearly allows some kind of gun ownership. The Supreme Court has ruled on that. And the constitution won’t be changed to delete the 2nd amendment. We are stuck with that and have to work around it. You can debate that point endlessly, but the constitution is the constitution.

I also don’t believe the government should be able to completely ban all gun ownership. There are too many examples of legitimate cases where people had to defend themselves and had no choice but to use a gun. One case that comes to mind is earlier this year when a single mother in a trailer with her baby called the police to say a man was trying to break in and could she shoot him in self defense if she had to. The operator who took the call said she could do whatever she needed to do to protect herself and her baby. I can’t see how any reasonable person would say people in situations like that don’t have the right to self defense. The same goes true for a person living in a city. People do have the right to self defense. I don’t see how any tragedy can be used to turn other people into murder victim statistics.

But reasonable limits don’t seem to be unconstitutional to me. Why did the shooter’s mother need 4 or 5 or 6 guns (depending on reports)? How many guns do you need to defend yourself?

And what kind of weapon is really legitimate? Automatics? Hand grenades? Portable missile launchers? Personal atomic weapons? Common sense tells you that legal limits on “arms” are constitutional, just like there are legal limits to free speech (slander, shouting fire in a crowded theater).

My suggestion is to allow one registered gun for personal defense to people who pass background checks, are adults, and who show they have gone through training and who have to get their certification renewed to show they are still competent, sane and capable (like renewing a driver’s license). And any public venue should certainly have the right to ban all weapons upon entering the area. And people who violate these laws should have the book thrown at them.

I don’t know if more is possible really, considering constitutional limitations.

doug