More US gun-related madness.

I might have known that some academic mentalist in the States would use the terrorist atrocities in Mumbai to try and justify the carrying of weapons. Or, to be more precise, concealed handguns.

And it’s this that really gets on my wick. They’ll stand up and say that it’s their right, as handed down by the Constitution. If they stopped for just one second and actually read the Constitution they’d realise that it “recognises” the right to keep and bear arms, but it does not (I’ll repeat that, not) “establish” the right to do so. The Constitution was also written some considerable time ago, when society was far less civilised, and people in isolated areas would feel the need to be able to organise themselves into militias to (and here’s the important bit) protect the state. Just for those of the slow-thinking variety, here’s the direct quote:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” (Second Amendment to the Constitution.)

I don’t even know why I’m bothering with this. The mentalists believe that heavily arming themselves will protect them. I’m not sure if they’ve seen the statistics, but you’re far, far more likely to be a victim of gun crime if you carry a gun (and that’s not exactly rocket-science for the thinkers amongst us).

And whilst I’m on a bit of a rant, I reckon there’s something in the American psyche or way of life that doesn’t help. Sweden has traditionally had the highest gun ownership per capita in the world. This was due to the fact that every male (and many females) had to carry out military service. So each person doing so was issued with a handgun and also an assault rifle. And they were taught how to use them. And they stored them at home, in secure cabinets. So it seems a little strange that we never hear of a Swede going radio rental in a place of previous employment/ex-girlfirend’s house/college/school. There are not now the same numbers of people carrying out military service in Sweden, but the point still holds. What is it about Americans that makes them so gung ho? I realise that they think that they own the world, and the rest of us are just here to make up the numbers, but surely they can see that guns are bad. And the argument about not being able to defend yourself? Stop giving people a reason to hate you and then you might stop feeling so paranoid.

I’m going to put a link here (which may be a big mistake, as I may bring down upon me the wrath of the mentalists) to show you what an Author/Senior Research Scholar at the University of Maryland (Mr. John R Lott) thinks about gun control. When I read the headline “The Life-And-Death cost of gun control” I thought that it might have got the right end of the argument (for a change). Sadly, it was more of the same “It’s my right” behaviour. See the madness for yourself here.

For me, the argument of “It’s my right” is on the same level as a kid who turns up to play football and when things don’t go his way he grabs the ball and goes home in the huff with the immortal words: “It’s my ball. My rules or we don’t play.”

If you are pro-guns, then go away and don’t bother me. Give me a shout when you’ve grown up and can have a proper discussion, rather than just tossing your rattle out the pram at every opportunity.

Because guns don’t kill people, idiots do.