One more mass shooting and few more deaths, will this ever stop?

Another mass shooting happened in the USA, this time at Oregon Community College, killing nine innocent people and injuring a few. I know this is not shocking news or the first mass shooting incident of this decade. I also know that no one will get shocked to read about this incident, rather many might read the number of victims and try to compare it with the number of victims of the last incident to see which one was worse. This is what we have become now, such news no more shocks or disturbs us, these incidents have become so regular that we as a society are getting immune to the severity and seriousness of this heinous crime. I found a similar sentiment in President Obama's message about this incident. He also sounded upset, frustrated, and angry at the same time like me. He rightly pointed out that our response after all such tragic incidents is becoming very routine, so routine that we all know who will say what. This is such a sad state of affairs for everyone. Guns and gun laws have been very controversial and sensitive issues for public and political debate in the US for a long time. Some people are against any control over bearing arms (pro-gun lobby) and some people want to ban guns (anti-gun lobby). Both sides often behave like fanatics with little or no real concern towards such tragic incidents except for releasing some lip service to condemn such acts. I guess it should be clear to everyone that just condemning, expressing grief, and offering prayers and condolence to victims and their families is not enough. We are doing these things for long and we know that these things are not going to stop these murders. When any terrorist act happens do you think just condemnation of that incident or offering prayers and condolences to affected families is enough? Are we even interested in taking any concrete actions to make sure that such incidents don't happen in the future?

Guns are deadly weapons, they can kill multiple people in a short amount of time (mass murders) if they land in the wrong hands. We all know about these things, and as a society or country, we can take a few steps to stop or at least minimize these incidents. Every country including the US has strict laws for getting a driving licence. Yes, one may argue that driving is a personal right and the government is no one to stop anyone from buying a car with their own money and driving it on the road. But you can not buy a car and drive it just like that, there is a written test and then a road test, registration, and insurance requirements to drive a car on the road. The concerned authorities who grant driving licenses want to make sure that everyone who acquires a driving license is capable enough to understand the responsibilities that come along with driving. So, I don't understand why people are against introducing some precautionary rules and background checks before buying deadly weapons like assault guns? After all, these are dangerous weapons, no one is saying that you can't have them, just go through some screenings before you buy them. Do you complain when they checked or strip-searched you randomly before getting into an airplane? Do you complain when any liquid including drinking water was banned from taking onto planes? Do you complain when they do your background check before hiring for any job? Do you complain about background checks or even medical fitness tests which are part of the selection process for some types of jobs?  Why not? Because we all know that even though some of these things might cause some inconvenience to us personally they are necessary to keep everyone safe. Some of these measures are required to make sure that the right people are at the right places. Some precautions are necessary to make sure that wrong people don't misuse the rights and privileges offered to them by the state and society. Airport security or background checks before job hiring are not there to ban you or stop you from traveling by plane or hinder your job application process, but these things are there to make sure that some lunatic or criminal doesn't enter the plane or get a critical job and cause some irreparable harm or some devastating tragedy. Is it difficult to understand? If I am a law-abiding citizen who wants to own a gun legally and responsibly then I don't think any investigation or background check can stop me from doing this, why I should be worried about these things? After all, these things are implemented for public safety, not for banning anyone from buying guns. I don't know why these points fail to make sense to people from both sides.

 
As Mr. Obama said, if as a country US doesn't take any steps to control this, then it means we as a society chose to allow such incidents to happen, then we must take responsibility for these murders. If we can do something to control such crimes and choose not to do anything, then directly or indirectly we are responsible for these crimes. Arming everyone is not a practical option to stop the violence in society. Maybe this was an option when there was no law and order with a very poorly equipped and inefficient police force. Guns are not toys, they are deadly weapons, wrong people armed with them can kill innocent people, and not everyone is comfortable handling them. Surprisingly, most of these so-called pro-life people are very vocal about issues like abortion, but totally mum about gun control and mass shootings. This is when this is not at all about banning guns, but just introducing more safety measures so that only responsible people can buy and own guns. Any constitution or law needs to be updated or tuned as per changing times, every era needs some adjustment in some of the laws. If any society fails to take these steps, then people suffer, imagine if the tradition of sati had not been banned in India, and imagine if amendments to ban slavery got stuck in a similar deadlock. Sounds really scary, right? We are facing a similar situation related to some issues today, as we refuse to act. I hope better sense among our society and politicians prevail and we make the right decision. Otherwise, we will be discussing the same issues and mourning for the same tragedies as a mute spectator to the sufferings of our fellow citizens. We can't blame anyone for this because this is our choice, this is what we choose when we elect people who refuse to do anything to change this. Please think over this and then decide.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

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