On Gun Control (or Lack Thereof)

I was quite pleased to see the NY Times’ editorial piece “The Issue That Goes Ignored” (author unavailable, NY Times, 10/18/12). The author brought to light something which has been gnawing at me for several months now: what do our leaders intend to do about the gun problem in this country? Thus far, they've been dodging the bullet (pun somewhat intended) and giving us wishy-washy, noncommittal answers.

The author points out the fact that when asked about what they intended to do to get the ban on assault weapons reinstated, neither candidate gave a meaningful answer. President Obama delicately pussyfooted his way around the question, while Mr. Romney seems to oppose any sort of renewal on the ban.

The author offered some rather chilling statistics as evidence for the support of stricter gun-control measures: “80 percent of firearm deaths occurred in the United States, where citizens suffer homicide rates 6.9 times higher than in the other nations”. Upon doing some research, I found that for every 100 Americans, there are 88 guns. (Interactive: US, Yemen lead the World in Guns). To me, it is appalling that we, as a first world country, seem to be unable or unwilling to keep our tempers in check. Many of the regular police forces of other nations do not carry firearms; there isn't a need as the citizens do not have access to firearms.

Personally, I think it is quite sad that our president refuses to take a stand on this issue one way or another. Certainly, taking an unpopular stance regarding a controversial issue might not be the best way to win votes, but it should be about more than that. It should be about doing what is best for the people living in this country. Sometimes people don’t like what is best for them and go the whole way kicking and screaming. However bitter the medicine might be, it is sometimes necessary to save the patient.

 I completely agree with the author. Guns (especially automatic weapons) are an unnecessary part of our country. What are we hunting that is so terrible as to warrant the need for an automatic weapon? I understand that the zombie apocalypse is surely well upon us. However, if that is the case, machetes and other bladed weapons are going to be our best option.