We are approaching the anniversary of the Newtown, Connecticut tragedy that occurred on December 14, 2012. Young lives were lost and a nation watched, in horror and shock, as a sick young man first took the lives of children and the lives of teachers and a principal that tried to protect the students within the best of their abilities.
What occurred next was a debate that spread across the nation as a whole and incited hot headed words and points that were very good from both sides. Politicians tried to use this to further their own agendas and to appeal to a larger voting pool while the rest of us struggled to understand what happened and how things could have gotten out of hand as much as they have.
Gun control- not taking your guns!
Many people on the conservative side of politics think that a good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy with a gun in a heartbeat. While this may be true, there is still the fact of all of the accidental shootings that occur, especially with children playing with guns and not being taught the proper respect necessary to handle such a weapon.
Yes. I said respect. Any weapon, from a sword to a gun, requires respect and training to handle. I say that because I am a martial artist and I have worked with traditional weapons such as swords and staffs. But, on the flip side, my father was a Marine, had guns, and I grew up around them. I also learned how to use them properly and to respect them- part of that meant not touching them if he wasn’t around and even if they were not loaded (and he did not keep them loaded in the house around my brother and I).
When it comes to gun control, no one is wanting to take guns or even necessarily do what the UK has done with banning guns except for farmers and hunters; what is wanting to be done is screenings and proper training to handle these weapons. And, yes, guns are weapons, just like a sword is.? When you have the potential to use something that can seriously maim someone or take their life, you need to have proper training and the proper mental state to handle it. Period.
But everyone has a right to protect themselves!
Yes, they do. But not everyone has the right to carry a gun or even have one when their mind is not in shape to do so, and not when they do not have the proper training.? With rights come responsibilities, and we have not been made responsible for ours in a very long time.
In Iceland, police killed a man for the first time in the history of the country. The man who was killed had fired on officers that were investigating the building that he was in. Since the officers were unarmed, as is customary in Iceland, SWAT had to be called in. The man then fired on them again, and that was when they had to fire back. The police force sent condolences to the man’s family and have expressed remorse that there was no other way.
The police officers protected themselves, as is our right. But I am also willing to bet that, in Iceland, there are more rigorous training programs and mental screenings. Gun control does work, mainly because responsibility is promoted.
Responsibility is key.
We have to learn to take responsibility for ourselves and whatever weapons we decide to use. Martial artists have to do that, as does our military. Why does everyone else think themselves any different?
As the other shootings across this country, mass and accidental both, should have taught us, we have to show responsibility for whatever we own and whatever we choose to do. This is what we need to learn from Sandy Hook, more than anything else.
Edited/Published by: SB
