Biden meets with gun safety advocates

On Friday, December 14, 2012 - the very same day that Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut twenty-two primary school children were wounded in a knife attack at the entrance to the Chenpeng Village Primary School in Henan province. The suspect is a 36-year-old man from the village. Initial assessments suggest the man is mentally ill... just like it appears that Adam Lanza was suffering from some type of mental illness long before he entered the national spotlight.

Is there therefore a hue and cry to outlaw knives - similar to the current outcry to outlaw so-called assault weapons? No, there is not. And no reasonable person would suggest such a ban.

If someone who is mentally impaired; or is suffering from excessive consumption of alcohol; or is high on drugs; if someone gets in an automobile and creates a fatal 'accident', is there an outcry to outlaw automobiles? No, there is not. And no reasonable person would suggest such a ban.

In both of these circumstances, there is a complete lack of public outcry - even when the drunk driver is a repeat offender. Where is the media hype calling for the long-term incarceration of repeated DUI offences? Where is the media hype calling for laws allowing the long-term hospitalization and treatment of mentally disturbed individuals? Where are the laws that are supposed to protect us from this outrage?

Why do the media immediately demonize the tool that the mentally ill person is using to create havoc? Why are firearms treated differently from knives... or automobiles... or bows and arrows... or baseball bats... or rocks... or fists? Why do we focus on the tool that is being used rather than looking at the user of the tool? Where is individual responsibility? And in the case of mental impairment or disability, where is the responsibility of our society?

If outlawing something is supposed to be so effective, how is it that Heroin, Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, LSD, Ecstasy, Opium, Psilocybin Mushrooms, and PCP are still readily available on the street and in our schools? Yes, those drugs are readily available in practically every high school, middle school, and even most elementary schools in our beleaguered nation. And that list doesn't include all the readily available prescription drugs that are widely used for 'recreational' purposes - like Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Diazepam, Dexedrine, and many others. But we'd rather not admit that there's a problem. And how is it that we've started the process of removing the prohibition of Marijuana in Washington and Colorado when the Federal government still considers this a controlled and illegal substance?

Only when the 'war on drugs' has eliminated the scourge of readily available 'recreational drugs' from our schools and the drug cartels are a thing of the past will any reasonable person be convinced that outlawing so called assault weapons will really take them away from anyone, especially the criminals who enter banks; convenience stores; and even homes to obtain cash or goods... probably so they can obtain more drugs.

Outlawing so called assault weapons is like giving someone with a serious disease aspirin - so they might feel better. It's not a cure, and it can easily make the real problem more severe. Let's treat the real cause of the disease in our society and stop trying to sell snake oil... leaving the law-abiding citizens even more at the mercy of the nefarious criminals.

But that would take intelligently addressing the issues facing our society... and apparently even congress doesn't have the mental and intestinal fortitude to step up to the plate and admit that there's a real problem that we need to address. And what about the media? The media outlets are apparently too busy stirring up the hornets' nest and creating more hype so they can get more market share and sell more advertising to make more money. They apparently can't be bothered by the real issues. That would take too much time and be too involved for a fifteen second sound bite.

I guess the American people get the government and the media that they deserve - and until people get involved and inform themselves about the complex underlying issues that are creating tragedies like Sandy Hook Elementary School, we will continue to look for scapegoats and easy answers. It's too bad that that kind of response will never address the real issues or solve the real problems. This is probably why we find ourselves in the situation we are in.

But that's just my opinion.

Source: http://www.news.theusalinks.com/2013/01/09/biden-meets-with-gun-safety-advocates/