On Sunday, June 12th, America suffered one of its greatest tragedies in the history of our country. I know many peoples’ responses were whether this is a consequence of radical Islamists or a lack of gun control, while some think what it is a consequence of doesn’t matter at all. This is just not true. The context of this horrible shooting is very important.
Everyone has heard that the shooter, I don’t feel like he deserves to have his name mentioned, called 911 before the attack and pledged allegiance to ISIS. This does not mean that this was an attack by ISIS though.
The shooter had no affiliation with ISIS whatsoever. Yes he was interviewed twice by the FBI, but if you read the reports, which I know most people find to be too much work, you’ll see that he was profoundly innocent of their inquiries. Also, the FBI would have no problem detaining him due to the smallest chance possible he could be a terrorist. So he wasn’t a terrorist.
The shooting was not some plot thought of and acted out by ISIS. This is common knowledge by now and if you haven’t accepted it you’re living in a bubble. These were the actions of an independent American citizen who used our own loose gun laws against us to enact this horrible tragedy.
Of course ISIS saw an opportunity to claim the attack seeing as how the shooter decided to pledge allegiance to them right before acting, and why wouldn’t they? This is the perfect way for them to appear stronger than they are.
So I will wrap up that rant by saying this is not the result of an ISIS terrorist attack. It is important to make this distinction because now we can focus on the real problem, gun control.
We have now established that this was an attack by a U.S. citizen, an example of domestic terrorism. So we have to put a lot of the blame on ourselves for allowing this to happen.
Let’s start with the obvious; how can someone who had previously been investigated by the FBI be allowed to legally purchase a Sig-Sauer MCX without any red flags popping up? With how much 2nd Amendment advocates preach about how difficult is to buy a gun already, you’d think this would never happen. Well that’s because it’s not hard to get a gun legally. This situation illuminated how much of a joke our background checks are.
I’m sorry but no citizen has any right to have access to an assault rifle, and yes I know the Sig-Sauer MCX isn’t technically classified as an assault rifle but let’s stop splitting hairs. Hunting rifles and pistols go ahead and have at them, with the appropriate regulations. No one needs an assault rifle though. I’m not willing to put my safety, and the safety of others at risk just so you can feel like a badass. Yeah sure you may not shoot up a bunch of innocent people, but there are those who will and you having access to assault rifles means they do too.
Also, I’m fully aware of the automatic assault rifle ban that was put into effect in 1986, but you can still legally buy these said weapons capable of mass destruction. I just had to clear that up really quick because I see anti-gun control supporters on social media constantly using this “ban” as a tool to say we don’t need more gun control. If you are not aware of how people are still able to get these weapons legally even after this ban, well then maybe you shouldn’t be involved in the gun control conversation.
Now let me go through most pro-gun owners’ points on why there shouldn’t be such strict regulations on guns and tell you why they are stupid.
“All of these regulations are just the government trying to take away all our guns.”
This is an easy one. Obama has never, ever, ever, ever, ever said he wanted to take away everyone’s guns, ever. Google it.
Here is what has been proposed; an all out assault rifle ban, ending the gun-show loophole, and making it illegal for those on the no-fly list to buy a gun.
If you are against these plans that Obama and his administration want to put into place, this is what you are fighting for. You are fighting for the right that those on the no-fly list should be able to buy guns. You are saying that it’s okay to be able to buy weapons capable of mass destruction at gun shows without any background checks being run at all.
If you’re okay with supporting those stances then I guess by all means go ahead. Just know you are being nothing but detrimental to our country.
“Well if you make certain guns illegal, criminals will still get them.”
You’re right. Criminals will still attempt to get these illegal guns and some may be successful. But let’s use our brains here for a second when we try to think about this.
Someone wants to commit a mass shooting, what do they do first? Well, they have to get a gun. An AR-15 is the common choice. As of now, they can just go to a gun shop, go through the sad excuse we have for background checks and maybe take a week long safety/training course that’s a slight step above playing laser-tag with friends. Boom, now you are the owner of an AR-15, with no suspicion about you at all because you did so legally.
Now imagine this situation. Assault rifles and assault-style rifles are illegal. You’re not going to shoot up a mall with a semi automatic hunting rifle or pistol; some may but let’s not kid ourselves the outcome would be much less severe than if a gun like an AR-15 was used. Now you have to go throw all these illegal activities to get said assault rifle. You can access the dark web, which is constantly monitored by government agencies. You can try and find an illegal arms vendor in your neighborhood, but then you run the risk of getting stopped by local, state, or federal law enforcement.
Do you see the scenario playing out here? Making military-style rifles illegal gives police a better opportunity of arresting criminals for trying to buy the illegal weapon, before they can use it. And why would we not want to make committing a mass shooting as difficult as possible instead of making it a legal process that can be done rather easily?
“If more people had guns then criminals won’t want to commit mass shootings, and if they do they will be stopped.”
This logic heavily relies on deterrence here. Unfortunately people, deterrence does not work. Look at the death penalty. States with the death penalty actually have higher crime rates.
This is because deterrence relies on rational thinking. Criminals have to think “well if I do this, then this will happen to me so I shouldn’t do it”. I think we should all know by now that that’s not how criminals think. In fact, most of the time crimes are done out of passion in the heat of the moment. So basically these mass shooters wouldn’t care less if you had a gun or not because they aren’t thinking rationally enough to be deterred.
Now let’s talk about your combat skills. I’m sure that you are just a surefire marksman. You are a modern day John Wayne and would be able to respond to spontaneous rapid gunfire in the blink of an eye with zero hesitation whatsoever. But let’s talk about every other ordinary citizen in our country, just for argument’s sake you know?
Do you ever wonder why soldiers go through months, sometimes years of training? It’s because your everyday person can’t just easily react to a combat situation. You would hesitate and freeze up. Heck, you probably wouldn’t even know whom to shoot. Odds are if everyone had guns you would shoot the wrong gunman in a mass-shooting situation. We’d have chaos and instead of one shooter firing off rounds in public, we’d have a full on combat situation with maybe even a dozen poorly trained civilians rattling off shots at each other. But no I’m sure you’re different though.
As safe and delightful as all of this sounds, I’d rather have stricter gun control and try to avoid that situation all together. Come on people, can we just once think logically about a situation that affects everyone? The fact of the matter is, if you are a law-abiding citizen you will have no trouble getting your guns, you shouldn’t be fighting this. It’s embarrassing that our society is so divided on this subject.
