"From My Cold Dead Hands...."

So up until now I have deliberately sat on the sidelines and watched yet another "Gun Control" debate rage on.  All the usual players have weighed in, and the nuts on both sides have not disappointed with the rhetoric.  I thought that I would throw my two cents in….

First….I would encourage individuals to take a step back and look at the situation rationally.  All the banter and little posters (E-Cards) about how guns don't kill people are cute and funny, but they don't help.  All the "From my cold dead hands" speeches are inspiring, but they don't help.  Chest thumping and veiled threats will accomplish little in the way of meaningful debate. If history teaches us anything, it's that all the politically motivated B.S. rarely accomplishes anything. The Liberal agenda, in my humble opinion, is and always has been to foster a Nanny State, a Government that is not "For the people" as Mr. Lincoln so eloquently said, but rather a Government that decides what is best for the people.

There are no words that can adequately express the tragedy that occurred in Sandy Hook, CT.  Having family in Newtown and having worked with a Woman who's Son was fortunate enough to escape Lanza's rampage, I can say that my heart aches for them.  While I know there are those who will vehemently disagree, another assault weapons ban will not prevent another horror like this from occurring.  Does anyone truly believe that this twisted Monster would not have found another way to slaughter innocents had he not had access to his Mother's Guns?  And while we're on that topic, how about that word "access"?  Perhaps an important and somewhat overlooked issue here is the culpability of Nancy Lanza, who made these weapons available to her deranged Son.  Sorry if I hit a nerve here with those of you who would feel sorry for her, and it goes without saying that no one deserves the fate she suffered.  However, I feel anyone who would teach a Kid with an obvious antisocial disorder to handle a gun and allow him to hold up in a basement for hours at a time playing video games, failed in her duties as a Parent.  But I digress.  So in light of the events in Colorado and Sandy Hook, we find ourselves in the middle of yet another "Evil black rifle" uproar.  I've got news for you, that is if you have been living in a cave or under a rock for the better part of your life, there are so many of what the Media has dubbed "Assault Weapons" out there, anybody with a desire to do so could get their hands on one.  Would a new assault weapons ban curb gun violence or mass shootings going forward?  No.  The research is out there and the statistics have been presented by people infinitely more intelligent than I could ever hope to be, and the consensus is that the first ban didn't work, neither will the second.

I firmly believe that some of the proposals put forward by the Vice President's task force are a good idea, if not a no brainer.  While I completely oppose registration, universal background checks are a good idea, and in fact only serve protect Society.  Sorry Folks, but if you are a Felon convicted of any sort of violent crime you don't deserve the right to possess a firearm.  Hunting?  Use a stick or a sling shot like the Cave Man did.  Now I know there are those that see any sort of background check as a threat to liberty, if not a slippery slope towards more Big Brother interference in the lives of John Q. Citizen.  Get over it.  

I've grown so tired of hearing Pundits on both sides exclaiming what the Founders were thinking when it came to the Second Amendment, (that's the Right to keep and bear arms in the Bill of Rights, for those of you who like to proselytize without having any clue as to what you are talking about)  I suspect our Founding Father's could never have predicted the America that we now live in.  Indeed it may be a sad reality, but I personally agree with what NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."