Here I am, in Arizona, gun country… and, it just so happens that the USA is once again boiling with fear and outrage after a shooting tragedy, this time in a Connecticut primary school where a 20-year old shot six teachers (including his mom) and twenty children, and then shot himself.   His weapons? Three semi-automatic rifles from his mom’s house.   Being on a roadtrip, we were driving along and listening to local radio. The DJ summed up the argument for less gun control in four points (true story):

1. America won its independence from Britain by fighting with guns. Since then, guns saved the day in WWI, WWII, and Korea, and America became the richest country in the world. Right now, guns ensure freedom in South Korea, where 40,000 US soldiers are stationed. They are not waving peace flags, they are carrying guns. Without guns, the USA and the world will lose their freedom and its wealth.
2. Guns are like money. In essence, money is neutral. You can use money to build a place of worship of the Lord our God, or you can use money to build a brothel. Either way, it’s the people spending the money that is the problem, not the money per se. Don’t blame guns for the actions of evil people. Guns can be used for good.
3. The problem is not that a deranged 20-year old can get access to such hardcore weaponry, but rather that he allowed “Evil” to overcome him. No one wants to discuss this, but it is the obvious truth, and until we deal with “Evil” we cannot solve the problem. As long as there are people that are too weak to resist “Evil”, every man and woman must equip themselves with a gun for self-defense.
4. The killer is such a coward he went to a primary school to kill people. He didn’t have the balls to go to a high school where the victims can at least put up a physical fight. If only the teachers at the school had guns on them, then the killer would have been in for a shock.

Alrighty then.

PS: Turns out Connecticut has the 5^th strongest gun control laws in the USA.

PPS:

1. The media coverage is out of control. Seriously. You can’t turn on the radio or TV without being overwhelmed with commentary. And this is three days after the event.
2. The whole country is in mourning, as is evidenced by flags at half-mast everywhere (outside of major metros like New York, everyone has a USA flag on their lawn/house.) It’s amazing and touching to see such solidarity.
3. Anybody with Asperger’s or autism in the USA must be having a hard time… the media are being incredibly irresponsible in how they are allowing the incident to be portrayed as entirely due to the killer being afflicted by one of these conditions.