Guns are not toys, they kill people

Today is a very sad day for people in the US. One more massacre. A mentally sick person armed with an automatic or semiautomatic assault weapon opened fire on unarmed innocent people, including young kids, at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown CT, killing 20 kids and 7 adults including himself. This is not one isolated incident, similar incidents happened not that long ago, there was the Colorado theater shooting, the Virginia Tech massacre, and many more. In all these incidents one thing is common people with unstable states of mind get access to dangerous assault weapons very easily which they should not have gotten. Many innocent people got killed in all these incidents, it was not their fault they were just living their normal lives and it was cut short by some senseless violent act by some mentally unstable person. Yes, I know that we can not control anyone's mind, we can not predict anyone's behavior under stress or depression or any other mental trauma but we can definitely try to restrict their access to these assault weapons. These weapons multiply the danger associated with their unpredictable behavior.

Why do we need to sell automatic or semiautomatic assault weapons to the general public? Why do they need them? How can a right to carry dangerous weapons capable of mass murder be a fundamental right in a civilized society? Many questions like this need answers. I hope that this incident is not also brushed aside as one unfortunate incident where a few unlucky kids lost their lives, followed by condolence meetings, a lot of tears and prayers, a candle march, and then slowly people forget it until something like this happens again. All they are suggesting on TV is to pray. I know that this will help to tackle the grief associated with the tragic loss but any amount of prayers won't help to stop incidents like this. Any amount of prayers, condolences, candles, or flowers is not going to bring back those kids and adults who died in these massacres. They are gone for no fault of theirs. God didn't kill them, and people who survived were not saved by God. So, please don't ask God why this happened, rather ask lawmakers, people who are in charge of this country. They must have answers to these questions. WHY THIS HAPPENED? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS? Please tell them to give some sensible answers this time. How many more people should die to make them realize that they need to modify the gun possession laws to save the lives of thousands of innocent unarmed people? A country where the sale of Marijuana is illegal but lethal assault weapons that can be used to kill hundreds of people can be purchased legally by almost anyone. Does this make any sense?

I know many people feel it's their fundamental right (awarded to them by their constitution) to carry a weapon of their choice. But why a civilized person living in a very civilized country would like to buy a semiautomatic or automatic assault weapon? Just for fun? Is it a toy? No, it's not a toy. Gun kills people, once a bullet is fired it doesn't care who is getting hit, kids, adults, or animals, it doesn't matter. Whether it was fired by mistake or purposely also doesn't matter, once the trigger is pressed the matter is not in anyone's hand. Do people want these weapons for personal protection? A semiautomatic rifle for personal protection? A weapon with so much destructive power for personal protection? Protection against who? That too in a country where the law and order situation is not bad and police respond very well. I think one can not justify possession of such a destructive weapon unless one is expected to get attacked by a mob or armed goons very frequently in their daily lives. I don't think people in any part of the US face these types of situations in their daily lives. 

This is not the time to have a gun debate or to play a blame game but this is definitely the time to take some action. We need some concrete steps to stop these types of incidents. Senseless acts of extreme violence are not new to humans but in today's world where we have so much control over our lives, we can definitely minimize risks associated with such type of senseless behaviors. Making the availability of assault weapons more difficult or impossible can be definitely one of the possible solutions to this problem. In many of these cases, the person who carried out this senseless act was found carrying multiple weapons as it's that easy to get them. We should do something to stop this easy access to dangerous weapons. Gun regulation may not be able to stop these types of acts altogether but it will definitely help to reduce them. Any step necessary towards saving innocent lives should be taken doesn't matter which party is ruling the country.

My heart goes out to all those families who lost their loved ones on Friday. We need to make sure that people with uncontrolled emotional behavior can not get access to lethal weapons so easily. We need to protect ourselves, and our children. Giving guns in everyone's hands is not a solution to protect our society. 

Thanks for reading and please raise your voice to express your concern about this issue.

Reference:
1. http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2012/12/14/news/doc50cb434cac3ab117605387.txt