Violence is one thing that brews out of something. We cannot say for sure that it should be forgiven or should be condemned. If this so called violence is brewing and is out of control, then what are those things that could possibly make up this violence we see nowadays.
Well guns do come to mind quickly, but they were there for years. What is then the difference now? I think it is the guns and their ownership. Now the guns are in millions of hands and the society now is impatient and wants solutions overnight. The guns come nowadays with varying power, capacity and range and owners think they have a purpose. Gun owners might be right when they say that they have the greatest responsibility and accountability of what they own, but all owners are not same and all guns are not same. They firmly believe that guns don’t do harm on their own. They are right. But in combination of guns and hands holding the guns, they are wrong.
They are wrong as they do not realize that guns are like fire and when mixed up with some other unwanted elements like wind, fires can go out of control. We are seeing more of this now and we need to do something about the combination of the gun and its owner rather than separate them as individual elements to establish some gun control. They are like fire and wind mixed together.
Fire and wind are beneficial as long as they are at the right place and work in the right manner. If not they cause havoc. It’s same with guns in a hands of those who are incapable of understanding what it can do. Hence the controlling measures to diminish the effects of this deadly combination are the ones to make that will make sure that the guns of high capacity or range or power do not reach anyone except those who maintain or enforce laws of the land. How do we make this happen? It is as simple as that knowing where the wind is blowing strongly and where the fire is lit up strongly.
If the fire is burning at the right place, leave it alone and if at the wrong place, then extinguish it by whatever means available. Realizing that wind is non-existent,the fire can be contained easily and if not it is difficult to do so and requires the efforts of many.
Right to bear arms need to be re-assessed from the times of its enactment to the times of the current changed world. If you are trying to equip everyone with a gun to defend, does it solve the problem? I don’t think so. No, it just escalates the problem as it becomes a difficult process to monitor all possible states of minds of owners when they have the weapons in their hands and when they don’t. I heard the news that there is a push to equip teachers with guns. What next? Nuns and Pastors from churches? Kids too?
Instead of letting violence spiral downwards, we are letting it spiral upwards.
Let us not please do that. Because it will be like lighting the fire at a wrong place and perhaps where the wind is strong. Establish a strong support system to defend or divert the strong winds away from the fire.