You can cry and commiserate all you want. You can pass all the rules and laws that you want. At the end of the day, the only people standing in line to return confiscated weapons are those with reverence to the law in the first place. If you wanted to disarm a country, the only way to disarm criminals would be to seek them out in their own element, waive the rule of law, blast in their doors, and remove their weapons by force. The left wing ACLU will not allow it. Even then, how long before nefarious people, criminals and druglords, would create a black market for weapons by stealing from police departments and military depots. Do you think that they cannot or will not accomplish that which they set out to do?
If this is about magazine size only, how reasonable is it to believe that limiting a magazine to ten rounds is really going to limit death? Since there is no limit to the numbers of magazines that a criminal might carry, why can't he carry more magazines? You do realize that 100 rounds spread over 10 magainzes is approximately the same weight as 100 magazines spread over 7 magazines and that if one is prepared to change magazines 7 times, is changing magazines another 3 times really going to cause much more issues for him?
The issue in our society is not one of disarmament as much as it is one of soft targeting. Before September 11, it was possible for anyone on an aircraft to enter the cockpit of an airliner, but was it smart? In retrospect, barricaded doors would have saved thousands of lives, billions of dollars in destruction, and ten years of involvement in two land wars. We could easily say that had airlines spent a couple of thousand dollars per aircraft to barricade their doors, then the ensuing devastation and chaos could have been prevented. Using it as a starting point, why should we wait until Aurora, CO and Newtown, CT to examine every inch of our lives?
As long as we perpetuate the creation of areas of unprotected targets, such as schools, churches, playgrounds, and the like, then we will give opportunity to crazy people to attach that which we hold most dear, and no amount of legislating or protesting will stop it from happening. I tell you this now, the next mass shooting is only a heartbeat away, but where it will be no one knows, and the legislation on the Senate floor will not stop it. I will tell you why. Whether or not the next crazy person uses an AR15 or a Colt .45, if he things about his attack as much as the shooters in Aurora and Newtown did, he will carefully choose his weapons to achieve the largest impact. If he has to reload, then he will do so, and if he has to create a bomb like Timothy McVeigh, then he will do that too. After all, the Aurora shooter rigged his apartment to blow the whole building sky high, and it was only because of the events that occurred that tipped off the police to be careful upon entering.
We know that it takes good people to counteract the actions of bad people which is why we have numerous different police departments: city police, sheriffs, highway patrol, State Departments of Law Enforcement, DEA, FBI, ATF, etc. If you doubled the amount of officers, you would still not reduce your crime rate to zero. In fact, you would raise the ferocity of the criminal element to mafia level proportion. Look at criminals in Communist countries. They cannot eliminate it in places where they rule their people with iron fists, yet do you really believe we can do it in America without giving up your civil liberties?
In all the debate and discourse, the easy way out is to pass a law to placate the tears and sorrow of the parents of the lost, but will it really prevent the next shooting? The answer is no. What will prevent the next shooting? Proactive people concerned about their own welfare. In our local Security Task Force, we discussed local preventive measures that schools can enact on their own to make themselves harder targets. Communities around the country have tackled legislation to allow teachers or key personnel to carry concealed weapons, so why is the only answer being pushed by one side to limit the ability of those willing to follow the law in the first place to buy and keep items which they want to own? In the country's time of need, why does the President create a politically charged task force to create the findings which he wants instead of creating a non-politically charged task force to create the findings which will work? The answer is that legislation is quick and easy, but real changed occur at the community level, yet a President is limited in his ability to effect change at that level.
The reality of any society is that individuals hold the best key to their own safety by examining their surroundings and ensuring that their police force operates efficiently and effectively. We have the ability to elect Sheriffs whose job it is to properly prevent crimes, and mass shootings, by working with the public to properly inform them of ways to eliminate crime in their neighborhoods and places of business.
If you want to change society, start with yourself. Elect leaders who do not usurp your ability to protect yourself, and do what you can inside your community to ensure that funds and personnel effectively protect that which is typically left unprotected. In my case, our schools began to immediately change their operating procedures after Newtown which will give law enforcement the time needed to neutralize potential attackers. Do not presume that you are safe by essence of your own existence. Be safe in the everyday activities of your life and make safe choices. Ultimately, your government can only punish those who do wrong because they cannot be everywhere that you choose to be, and even if they could, would you want to be watched every step of the way?
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