I think, to a lot of people who don't own guns, weren't raised around them, and have little first hand knowledge about them, guns are big scary weapons of destruction, often used to kill people.
To those more comfortable and familiar with guns, they are tools. Used to protect yourself, your family, livestock, personal property, as well as hunting and recreation.Responsible gun owners would not think of using their guns to murder people, any more than those of us who own butcher knives, or chainsaws would think of using those tools to kill people.
It seems to me that both sides of the equation, are so entrenched in their passionate opinions, that reasonable compromises are unable to be reached.
It's like both sides shout each other down, and the kids are caught in the crossfire.
My daughter is a seventh grade student. Right now, in the current social climate, I don't give a good GD about 2nd amendment rights. I want my child to survive her school day.
IMO there are several reasons why these 17 lives were lost, and the number one reason on my list would be complacency. "Not here, not in our school community" We have *programs* We don't arrest! We redirect!
Nikolas cruz shouted from the rooftops, that he was going to shoot up his school. He announced his intent, he published photo evidence of his capability on SM, he was reported, again, and again and again, and still... complacency reigned supreme.
Last year, there was several Bomb threats called into my child's school. ( A man was eventually arrested for calling hundreds of bomb threats into schools across MA.). on those days, I would receive an automated message that there was a threat, and that the school had been swept from top bottom and cleared. I would find it totally unacceptable, if school officials had received the information that MSD school had about NC and not alerted parents, and informed them of steps that were being taken, if any, to safeguard the students from this threat.
There were failures on every level, that allowed this tragic loss of life. Would it really be too much to to ask of the gun proponents to allow some restrictions to the availability of assault weapons? I would beg of you, as a mom to a wonderful, beautiful young woman, whom is dearly loved, to please consider that not everyone who enjoys our constitutional right to own weapons is responsible enough to do so.
While I appreciate our constitutional rights greatly, and I don't want them infringed apon in the slightest, I would say that NC was a mass murderer in the making and a plethora of people knew it. If he had not had access to they type of weapon he had, OR something had been done to prevent his freely moving about in society, this tragic loss of life could have been prevented.
IMO both of these measures are necessary NOW.
So... This is my plea, as a parent, not a democrats stricken with malignant altruism, don't make it easy to get an assault rifles. Have mercy.