America is Packing Heat

Today's headlines:

• Six dead as gunman 'goes to war' with Missouri city
• 5 Dead After Los Angeles Gunbattle
• 3 shot dead on Louisiana Tech campus
• Man Planned to Gun Down Fans at Super Bowl

You can't tell me that our country as a whole wouldn't be better off outlawing handguns. I know many gun owners, and I have heard their arguments for why they need to keep their guns.

"If you take guns away from honest people like me, we won't be able to protect
ourselves from criminals."

It is significantly more likely that you, or someone you love, is going to be shot by that gun. You hear stories about it all the time: a child finds a gun and shoots himself by accident; a man shoots his wife after mistaking her for a prowler.

My parents' next door neighbor had an incident where their 10 year old son pointed his father's loaded handgun at his mother because he heard noises in the basement and thought she was a burglar. Thank God he did not pull the trigger. Now they keep the gun locked in a safe. But, really, they're probably better off without the damn thing.

"Guns don't kill people, people do."

True, but a gun makes it a whole lot easier. Look, I realize that there are bad people out there - and that bad people are going to do bad things, regardless of whether or not handguns are legal. But it's disgusting how easy it is for just about anyone to obtain a gun. I'm a responsible, intelligent, upstanding citizen - but the idea that I could go purchase a gun right now terrifies me.

"It's my Constitutional right to own a gun!"

This one really irritates me. The world was a completely different place when the Second Amendment was drafted. Most of the social issues that necessitated the 2nd Amendment are no longer relevant today. Plus, I love the irony of Bush supporters railing on about the importance of maintaining Constitutional rights.