Lance Hostetter
The Paw Print
Wednesday marked the twelfth anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting. One of the nation’s worst acts of violence still conjures up feelings of grief and uneasiness, and rightfully so.
Just a day before the anniversary of Columbine, another gun related incident occurred in a Texas elementary school. A kindergartener packed a loaded pistol in his pocket before leaving for school Tuesday. During his lunch hour, the gun fell from his pocket causing the gun to fire. Three children were injured.
Earlier this year, while attending an event in an Arizona shopping mall, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and other innocent civilians were wounded or killed by a deranged gunman. Giffords’ condition continues to improve.
In 2007, a Virginia Tech student walked on campus and opened fired on his fellow students after sending warning letters to NBC Nightly News earlier that day. Numerous students were injured or killed.
These are several incidents that mark a seemingly endless trend in our country, and probably around the world. Seemingly every few months a story of a shooting will headline the nightly news programs or the next day’s newspapers. Shootings are becoming commonplace acts of violence.
Take John Caudle, for example. The young Rock Creek boy shot and killed both his mother and father. Sure, there may have been hidden abuses and harassments, but different measures could have been taken. No one should have died and no one should be going to prison.
Instead, two people are dead, and John Caudle will probably spend many years in prison.
But guns and gun control are another hot button issue that needs addressing. The moans and groans are heard nationwide on both sides of the argument. The National Rifle Association is a powerful, influential organization. However, so are all those people and families who have suffered through the acts of gun violence – victims, victims’ families, and families of the aggressors.
I own guns. I like guns. But, I don’t know why I own guns. I don’t hunt. I don’t feel like I need protection.
In the San Luis Valley, some guns are practical. We have many hunters who use their guns for the sole purpose of hunting during the appropriate seasons. I have no argument about an elk hunter owning a rifle or a duck hunter owning a shotgun. But, neither one needs to own an automatic rifle. What’s the practicality of a civilian owning it?
For years many people have argued that children who are caught with guns are at the fault of their parents. Their parents should have hidden them in a safe place. Where is the safe place? Having been a child and knowing many children, I know children are curious and will look anywhere and everywhere for what their parents and siblings have hidden. And not everyone has a safe in the house.
To abolish guns would be absurd. Many people are responsible and use their guns responsibly and for practical matters. Many guns, however, fall into the wrong hands. Gun control does not mean, “get rid of guns.” It merely means there should be stricter steps for obtaining guns.
The phrase “guns don’t kill people; people kill people” is true. Some people just shouldn’t have guns.
What’s Been Said…