Silly Slogan and Idea Time

People saying foolish things pop out of the woodwork every time some self-centered cretin who can't face disappointment opens fire on people. I heard a few while watching Headline News at lunchtime.
First some redneck repeated that most infantile of all slogans, guns don't kill people, people kill people. If you want to get technical about it, bullets fired from guns kill people.
After that a so-called I-Reporter came on screen to say the answer to mass murder is to have more people carry concealed weapons. He claimed just one person with a gun could have prevented the 53 killings during the past month. That figure doesn't include the many single murders committed with guns during that time.
The man who believes that having more people with guns seems to forget that the three policemen killed in Pittsburgh were carrying guns. He forgets the victims out west were children asleep in their beds.
Another said that handguns are fine if they are registered. The two guns used to kill 13 people in Binghampton were registered.
Most of the people spouting silly ideas and slogans have never killed anyone with a gun. Most of them believe killing someone with a gun is as easy as hitting a paper or cardboard target. It is if you walk into a room and open fire on a group of unsuspecting and shocked people. Squeezing a trigger is no more difficult than squeezing toothpaste from a tube.
However, if you are one of those shocked people, drawing your own weapon and hitting the shooter in a vital place is far from easy. He's going to pick you as a target and his gun is out and ready. You would have to assume he's wearing a bulletproof vest as the shooters in Binghampton and Pittsburgh were. That means you must hit him in the head, a smaller target than a body and one that moves more easily and more frequently. You must do this under extreme stress.
In infantry close combat everyone has a gun, yet men die. All are well-trained soldiers and many have killed before. Merely having a gun won't keep you alive.
Practical experience has taught me that killing an armed man capable of moving and doing it under highly stressful conditions isn't quite so easy as it may seem. It has no relationship with hitting a target on a firing range. Some can do it, many cannot.
The answer to ending the horrific violence committed with guns won't be found by looking for a solution in this country. We need to look to countries where gun ownership is not foolishly considered some sacred right. The sloganeers will have to be pushed aside and ignored. Cooler heads and smarter people will have to lead the way. Will it happen? Not likely. There aren't enough brave men and women willing to stick their necks out. Most would rather risk being shot.


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