Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll

And the right to bear arms

Warning! This post will be highly opinionated and may piss some people off. But, I suppose that could be said for all of them. Score one for freedom of speech!

This week I walked into the middle of a conversation where a coworker was trying to find a loophole on how they could bring their gun to work (obviously with the legal conceal and carry permit). I was a taken aback and asked why that would be such a concern. It was because, you know, if you leave work and it's dark and you're alone in the parking lot, if someone tries something....

I'm not gonna lie, I was kind of shocked. Why is this your first instinct? Maybe pepper spray? A little pocket knife? Adrenaline and brute strength? I found it...interesting...that it would jump straight to the instrument that could instantly take a life. 

Now now, all you gun advocates, don't get all up in arms (hehe). I'm all for hunting (when the animal actually gets used, not like lions and elephants and stuff. And especially not giraffes. Do people actually do that? I love giraffes.) It just seems like, protection-wise, there are some other options. And maybe I'm a little torn on this. It seems, not necessarily okay, but maybe more justifiable, to use a gun if someone breaks into your house or something. 

Okay. Maybe I can collect my thoughts and give halfway a sane-sounding description here. I'm sure I've said it before, but the world today scares me. There's so much violence and evil. And I get the freedom and all that, but it doesn't seem like the best conclusion, in my opinion, to make them more available. It seems like in the US there's another school shooting every other week. So, sure, I can see the argument that giving the "right" people guns is a solution. But even the "right" people misjudge, get paranoid, shoot first and ask questions later. Then it's just more death. 

You get the people who say that making guns illegal won't stop people from getting them. Alright, fair, that's a semi-valid argument. Heroine is illegal, but there are people who still find it and do it. It's safe to assume that some determined people would find and use guns as well. In cases of angered shooting, however, I have to guess that a person would have time to cool off if they had to try and find a gun. There are some states where people can instantly get a gun...no background check, no mental health assessment, no wait period, no questions at all. That seems irresponsible.

Then you have "guns don't kill people, people kill people." Well, technically true. But if I'm an angry person with a knife, I can kill a lot fewer people than if I'm an angry person with a gun. And it's a lot easier for someone to intervene than if I'm shooting off an assault rifle into a crowd.

Oh, there's another issue. Wtf reason does the average person have to own an assault weapon? Nooone. Most of us don't live somewhere that has a valid threat of an attacking bear. 

Clearly, the good ole U.S. of A is disappointing me lately. But we did just have an election, which is always a little depressing. I voted, and I felt it was my responsibility and right, but it really doesn't mean anything anymore. So many people don't seem to want to think of the greater good, or the long-term consequences or solutions. 

Why can't we all just get along?