Insanity

Albert Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results."


So why, when it comes to gun control, are we 100% certifiably batshit insane? 


Every single time we read of another shooting massacre in the news, the debate begins, and then is almost immediately quashed by the gun lobby and the nerves of our political leaders who are terrified of upsetting the subset of the population that believes that pretty much anyone should be able to legally purchase 6,000 rounds of ammunition.  Politicians offer half-baked statements, celebrities compose grammatically sad tweets, the pundits' heads spin around 360 degrees, and after a few days the NRA bristles and flexes its muscles and everyone shuts up. 


The same rhetoric comes up every time: states rights, the 2nd amendment, the vision of the Founding Fathers (who never even conceived of automatic weapons, by the way), the spectre of tyranny, blah blah blah.  "If the victims had had guns, Mr. Psycho wouldn't have killed as many people"; "Guns don't kill people, people kill people!"; "From my cold, dead hands!"


By no means do I believe that Americans should not be able to purchase firearms for personal defense.  I personally would never want to own a gun, but I understand why someone would - if I were, say, a single woman in a remote urban area living alone in a corn field in an impoverished hovel, as opposed to a single woman in a crowded city with neighbors on top of me, I might feel differently about gun ownership for myself.  However, I simply do not understand why one needs an automatic or semi-automatic weapon and thousands of rounds of ammunition for self defense or hunting.  You don't buy that kind of weapon unless you believe your are going to to have the opportunity to shoot a shit ton of people.  And honestly, if you think that opportunity will arise, you are either a hardened criminal or YOU ARE FUCKING CRAZY.  So why are we surprised when these weapons and ammo are purchased by crazy-ass mother fuckers who KILL A SHIT TON OF PEOPLE? 


This pattern will not change until we stop doing the same thing, over and over again. People will continue to die unnecessarily in tragedies like Aurora, Columbine, and Tuscon until we make it illegal for private citizens to purchase automatic and semi-automatic weapons.  


Don't get me wrong - gun control is not the only thing we need to get right in order to make gun homicides a thing of the past.  We need to address the poverty, unemployment, and cycle of gang violence that lead to so many violent ends of the young and helpless in our cities (Chicago is having a particularly tough year when it comes to gang violence).  We need to ensure that those in domestic situations where violence is a threat have an avenue to get out and get support and keep themselves and their relatives (often children) safe.  We need to lift everyone up educationally and economically; a rising tide keeps all afloat. 


But in the wake of Aurora, when everyone is saying it's "not the right time" to discuss gun control, I have to respond by saying FUCK THAT.  No, regulating automatic and semi-automatic weapons at a federal level won't stop all gun violence.  It won't stop all criminals from obtaining these weapons and killing people.  It won't necessarily prevent every potential psycho from killing innocent people in school, or at a movie theater, or on a crowded street.  However, *not* banning these weapons isn't working, either.  If insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, we are definitely insane when it comes to gun control.  The fact of the matter is that every single weapon and piece of ammunition and equipment the shooter used in Friday's massacre was obtained legally.  How could a ban on the weapons and ammunition he used have made the situation worse?  How??  Experts have already noted that had his semi-automatic weapon not jammed in the middle of his spree, many more could have died.  Imagine how much less damage might have occurred if he hadn't had such a weapon on his person at all. 


Insane, isn't it?