I believe in the right to bear arms. I also believe in the sanctity of life. When someone overemphasizes the tragedy of not being able to own a gun over that of a shooting victim, then the world has gone mad.
Ben Carson, in response to the mass shootings at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College stated, “As a doctor, I spent many a night pulling bullets out of bodies. There is no doubt that this senseless violence is breathtaking, but I never saw a body with bullet holes that was more devastating than taking the right to arm ourselves away.”
Let’s turn our attention to Chris Mintz, the man who tried to stop the gunman from killing others during the Umpqua Shooting. In response to his bravery, the gunman shot him five times: once in the stomach, once in the back, once in the hand and once in each leg. Thankfully, Mintz is still alive and in the very long, slow process of recovery. He may remain wheelchair bound for the rest of his life. Mintz, a veteran of the Army, instinctively knew what to do once he heard shots. No doubt, Mintz is a true hero.
Carson and others feel that the devastation done to Mintz is nothing in comparison to not having the right to own a handheld weapon. I feel we should have the Constitutional right to bears arms. However, brazenly pushing one’s agenda without so much as an ounce of regard for its victims is hardly a battle I want to be a part of.
The continuous revisiting of the Second Amendment is all we hear of when yet another mass shooting occurs. We say prayers, shake our heads in dismay and immediately run to the nearest rally to support our right to bear arms. However, it’s becoming a farcical prizefight, no doubt a different kind of animal that can never be satisfied.
In Obama’s meeting with the families of the Oregon victims, he found himself met with unwelcome resentment. Area residents held a rally in an effort to reduce any kind of gun control reform by the government. Instead of the usual support garnered by a shattered community, resentment seethed throughout.
Jeb Williams, 14, held a sign telling Obama to “go golf.”
“He’s politicizing a local tragedy to further his agenda for local gun laws and I don’t think that’s OK,” Williams told KATU.
Could it be that we are a nation divided? Why is it that we keep revisiting the same topics without looking at many of the other factors included in such horrific tragedies? And why is it that we are becoming such a calloused nation that we are now neglecting our own in order to ensure our agenda?
Instead of beating the same dying horse with a new club, why don’t we address some of the real issues behind these tragedies and deal with them? If not, then we ourselves are the real problem.
