COMMON SENSE

There are times when I think that people have forgotten what the term common sense means. There are so many things that we take for granted in life and so many things that have such simple solutions if we would only use common sense. 

Gun control has been a good example. There are plenty of variations of these signs out there but the easiest one for me was this one:

I know the detractors of this sentiment will just start yelling about how these two items have nothing in common. But the fact of the matter is that they are nearly identical. Its not about which item is or is not illegal, its about the fact that by simply making an item illegal doesn't mean that people that abuse that item will not have access to it. This includes anything. Make drugs illegal and what happens? Drug abusers find drugs. Not only that they commit crimes to feed their drug dependency. Make guns illegal what happens? Call me crazy but while the law abiding citizens turn in their guns I would bet my life that criminals will be sitting at those collection sites laughing their butts off and getting license plate numbers from those folks so they know whose house to rip off. The bottom line is if you try and take something from people like this then they'll find a way to get it. 

The biggest problem of them all is the fact that there are too many do-gooders who think that they know what's best for people. The problem is what one person thinks is best may not necessarily be the same thing someone else thinks is best. One group loves guns, another hates them. Think back to the last elections and talk about grass. Several states legalized marijuana while many didn't. Some think it's beneficial while others think it leads to stronger drug dependency. Here again, one side thinks one way while the other thinks the opposite. The problem comes when one side forces its beliefs on the other.

So lets talk gun control. i don't own a gun and don't intend to. I do know that my right to own a gun is guaranteed by the Constitution. Its not about me forcing that into the Constitution, its already there. So why would anyone want to take that right away from me? Lets look at why they claim they want to. Many claim that they want to do so because of the recent shooting where children were killed. A great sentiment I'll agree. The problem is that the solution being given has absolutely nothing to do with the problem itself. The executive orders passed through by the President would have done nothing to prevent this shooting. The press has even admitted this though its one of those things where they kind of say it out of the side of their mouth while they yell and holler about how wonderful it is that these executive actions have taken place. Its the difference between front page news and page 5 news.

There's also some little shared facts that the news keeps forgetting to mention but they've gotten good at that. They always talk about the shootings but only those with a high body count. They forget to mention that those that have a high body count more often than not take place in gun restricted areas, that is areas where concealed weapons aren't allowed and no one has a gun on hand there to prevent someone from say shooting everyone there in the gun free zone. How about these stories that the press seems to find no reason to tell you:  
• A 1997 high school shooting in Pearl, Miss., was halted by the school's vice principal after he retrieved the Colt .45 he kept in his truck.
• A 1998 middle school shooting ended when a man living next door heard gunfire and apprehended the shooter with his shotgun.
• A 2002 terrorist attack at an Israeli school was quickly stopped by an armed teacher and a school guard.
• A 2002 law school shooting in Grundy, Va., came to an abrupt conclusion when students carrying firearms confronted the shooter.
• A 2007 mall shooting in Ogden, Utah, ended when an armed off-duty police officer intervened.
• A 2009 workplace shooting in Houston, Texas, was halted by two coworkers who carried concealed handguns.
• A 2012 church shooting in Aurora, Colo., was stopped by a member of the congregation carrying a gun.
• At the recent mall shooting in Portland, Ore., the gunman took his own life minutes after being confronted by a shopper carrying a concealed weapon.
2500 times last year alone legal gun owners stopped violent crime when confronted with it long before any police assistance ...


Notice the one thing these have in common. All of these shootings had low body counts. All of these shootings had someone there carrying a weapon that stopped the shooter. Unfortunately the press has decided not to let you know about that. 

They're too busy twisting and turning facts and figures to support their cause. It's not about the right thing to do, it's about a cause, an agenda. Piers Morgan talks about the figures for deaths by guns in Great Britain. To listen to him speak you'd think it was almost like Heaven. What he fails to mention is that GB has one of the highest rates of violent crime in the world, far above that of the US. Oops I'm sure it was a simple mistake. He also doesn't discuss how the majority of those being killed with guns here in the US are mostly being killed by criminals who have guns, not by legally lawful gun owners. To add insult to injury, many of those criminals who have guns and are killing people with them are career criminals that the same people who want to get rid of guns thinks they can rehabilitate and then turn lose not once but time and time again. 



So consider this from a common sense state of mind okay? 
You have a career criminal that you think you can rehabilitate. You give him an education, you feed and clothe him, you shelter him and you give him enough rights that the accessibility to illegal drugs and communications with those outside are enough he can make money while in prison. This criminal was in jail for robbery, assault, rape and maybe more. Perhaps he's not done them at the same time but over a period of time adding a new charge each time he gets sent back. But it feels good to try and help someone like this, to think that you can make them into something better with just a few years to do so even though they've had a life of doing violent crime. 

Now we have a law abiding citizen. He pays his taxes, he does what he's supposed to and he does everything he's told to do. He also owns a gun. Its registered and there's nothing illegal about it. So those in charge think that this man is a high risk to use that same gun to injure or kill someone not committing a crime and they decide he can't keep the gun. They want to take it away from him. Keep in mind he's never done anything threatening with that gun and it's always kept in his house except for target practice. 

Our friend the criminal gets out of jail and immediately hooks  back up with his gang of friends, many of which are ex-cons as well. Yes, he's not supposed to hang around with them but hey, these have always been his pals! He's been rehabilitated but at the same time when a friend needs you to back them up on a job you just want to be a buddy. So he gets a gun, mind you an unregistered and illegal gun, and goes along. 

So what if the job he goes along on is to burglarize the home of Mr. Legal-law-abiding-citizen? What if while burglarizing that home he shoots the man who now has no way of defending himself because he obeys the law and turned in his gun while the criminal who isn't even supposed to be associating with these other criminals has an illegal gun and uses it to kill Mr. Legal? 

Common sense will tell you that gun owners are not the problem. Automatic weapons aren't the problem either. The people with the problems, these mentally ill folks that the media wants to turn into celebrities by talking about them non-stop are the problem. Why don't those in power do something to weed out these people? Why not spend the money and effort to do something about those with mental health issues rather than to harrass people who obey the law and don't have those problems?

One simple answer: It's not about common sense. It's about looking good in front of a camera. It's about appearing to be doing something about the problem rather than actually doing something. It's about making yourself feel good rather than actually doing something good. It's all about sound bites and doing what makes you feel good rather than accomplishing something with any meaning friends. Consider that the next time you vote.