Gun proliferation makes it feel like the Wild West
Human beings are not infallible. We are flawed. Our roadways are littered daily with the evidence of split second decisions. Despite Driver’s Ed, The Rules of the Road, and licensed to drive, many of our decisions are influenced far more by the baggage we drag rather than the law…the good, the bad and the ugly, affecting our mood and behavior. Now, cash and carry can put a gun in every glove box. The ease of acquiring a license to carry a gun has created an equation for disaster now evident in the devastating consequences St. Louis is witnessing. I lost a gregarious, Irish friend on his way to work this past week to a gunman on the mean streets of St. Louis. Yesterday, a huge turnout of police officers and firefighters were in downtown to bid their beloved friend, Good Samaritan, Leonard Riggins, goodbye, a victim of a carjacker with a gun.
Although gun advocates are adamant that “guns don’t kill people”, no one could argue the unacceptability of the automatic weapon used by a man on Halloween, who from behind his closed front door, massacred a young Halloween guest, killing him with 11 bullets, wounding his two brothers, while the parents helplessly witnessed this atrocity. Now, pervasive fear among the unarmed is propelling many to purchase a gun for their own protection. No one is safe anywhere. It feels like the “wild west” is making a resurgence, everyone armed, but with little expertise, fueling a dangerous, difficult to dissuade cycle. Solutions are difficult that would honor the constitutional right of every American, yet be equipped to protect citizens from harms way. I only know that man must know his limitations and Annie Oakley, I am not. And I know I will miss my friend, Kelty O’Brien.
Amy Becherer
Hillsboro
Ms. Becherer, my condolences for the loss of your loved one. Your grief may be clouding your reasoning, however.
The “Wild West” was never as violent as today’s urban centers. Prompt and almost certain justice along with a well armed populace discouraged many from random violence. Revolving door justice for career criminals is the culprit in today’s society, not legal gun ownership by honest citizenry.
Please cite a single circumstance where licensed concealed carry has caused gun crime to rise in any of the many states now providing that option. Was the gunman who killed your friend in violation of any existing gun laws? Would he have chosen not to violate new ones? Would your friend have lived if I had surrendered my right to legally own firearms a decade ago?
If someone wants a gun to commit robbery, they will obtain it no matter what they law says. Drugs have been illegal for decades, but anyone that wants to try them will find someone willing to sell them.
This will be the same story if guns were banned. They will just be sold on the black market to those who want them.
Only education will reform our society to make wiser decisions about the use of guns, or drugs for that matter.