Unlocked to acknowledge Baseball4life's comment:
Quote:
Originally posted by BASEBALL4LIFE
I am a third grade teacher living in Georgia... and an avid gun collector. I spent most of my day Friday trying to convince my kids that they were safe and that things were going to be fine, but it tasted a lie as it came out of my mouth. As much as I enjoy my guns, I enjoy watching my students learn and grow more. I can't honestly promise them that nothing like that would ever happen at our school. We have security measures as I am sure they do in Conneticut, but we must ask ourselves is it enough? I got up this morning and drove to my local gun store just to get a feel of how yesterday's tragedy is going to trickle down into very small towns like the one I live in. As I was talking to the owner he was telling me that as he was unlocking his door this morning to open for business, the phone was already ringing. It was the ATF. I hung out for about two hours shooting the breeze with everybody and his phone rang at least 15-20 times. Every gun that was sold while I was there had to be called in to th ATF. Usually he justs runs a background check and if you come up clear you are good to go. The point I am trying to make now that I have rambled on is that I believe we need stronger gun control laws. Yes, I love my guns and don't want anyone telling me what I can and can't do in my own home. I'm not saying ban guns, I'm just saying that it needs to be much more difficult to get them. I bought two while I was there and there was very little hassle. I pray that President Obama uses wisdom and all the information at his disposal to make decision that will benefit everyone. Pointless arguing will not get us anywhere. New need a solution, not a bunch of hot heads. And that's all is have to say about that.
Let me just say that I appreciate comments like this one. I'm glad some people are able to get beyond their first, knee-jerk response and their own personal desires to see the bigger picture.
Guys, that's what part of living in a society is all about. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the good of society as a whole, and in return, you get all the benefits belonging to a large, like-minded group brings - like other people, civilized society, schools, roads, education, a national defense, a justice system, etc. If getting all of those things, which you make use of every day, comes at the cost of not being able to do what you want, with any object you want, any time you want, well, that's a trade off lots of people are willing to make.
In the 1960s the US, collectively, decided that your "freedom" to exclude minorities from eating at your lunch counter was overridden by society's need to protect the rights of those being discriminated against. At some point, society may want to revisit the question of whether your right to obtain and own guns relatively easily is trumped by the rights of innocent people to not get shot.
