To Shoot or not to Shoot

I grew up in a culture that never thought twice about one's right to bear arms.  Of course, it was mostly men's right to bear arms as opposed to women's, but women had the right too and the right to learn the skill of handling a gun.  When I went to camp I learned to handle a small rifle and was danged good at it.  I still have my little badge from the NRA.

Arms are out there.  We should not be a nation of sheep who don't know the first thing about a gun. If we are, we stand completely vulnerable to the multitudes of knowledgeable bad guys who are capable.

That is not the statement of a kind hearted liberal, nor of a good Christian.  Who said that? A person who feels that we live in a treacherous world where nobody is looking after us, where nobody can look after all of us all the time no matter how high their intentions. Therefore, we must deal with the matter of armaments like we do with many other things. We acknowledge the truth as clearly as we can see it. And we act. Or, as now, we worry.

There is something wrong in our country when a ton of weaponry, ammunition, guns, automatic assault weapons can be bought by any one person over the internet and in stores, over a short period of time. 

At least we know there's no truth to the rumor that our every move is being monitored by the powers that be, because nobody knew that a sick young man was purchasing all this stuff for some awful reason.  We'll deal more about the sick young man that did the buying, tomorrow.  Today, let's stick to guns.

Should we all be carryin'?  Looking at the facts, guess so.  However, look at George Zimmerman who was a good guy in his own books and who had the legal right to bear the armament he had, and the legal right to use it.  He tragically, mostly for himself after the young dead guy, made a mistake in the name of justice or self-salvation or whatever, and popped that young kid in one unthought moment.  Or thought moment. 

Think of it, if we're all carryin'....think of the rain of bullets that would have ensued on top of the rain of bullets that Mr. Holmes sent off.  Ditto, the same in Arizona when the young man shot so many people at the political meeting at the supermarket.  Odd, when you think of it, that nobody in that crowd was carryin', Arizona being what it is.  But suppose ten of them had been armed and disposed to take down the shooter.   A maelstrom.  Maybe somebody would have  dropped him right off, maybe not.  If nobody's sure who's who, and who's shooting, what's to stop one gun-bearer from shooting another gun-bearer in the heat of the moment, even if they're both dedicated to eliminating a crisis situation?

No, I don't think universal carrying of weapons is the answer, but universal proscribing of them is not an answer either.  I don't know the answer.  What is the answer?   YAZZYBEL