My $.02 on the gun control issue

This afternoon, while browsing Facebook, I happened across a friend's post regarding gun control.  He had posted a video that was shot during a town hall meeting with then President Barack Obama.

Here's that video:

My friend then asked how anyone could disagree with the statements made by Mr. Obama.  That's a really good question, because I honestly think that Mr. Obama made a really good point in his answer.  It's difficult to figure out how any thinking, rational person might disagree with such a brilliantly stated answer.  (and, btw, I really do like Mr. Obama's answer here)

So, why would anyone disagree?  Well, I felt I had to post what I felt was the answer to that question, and here's what I wrote:

Card carrying NRA member here, and I'll take a crack at explaining why anyone would disagree with this, and it's not going to be the explanation you think it is. It is, however, a little long winded.

The reason why auto fatalities were decreased by way of a health issue was that both the right and left were united in the approach. And, because they were, the people were also united in their resolve to do the same thing. The press covered this unilaterally and without bias on either side of the issue because there was no "either side" to take. People realized that this was a complex issue, and since it was a complex issue, they would accept that this was an effort that would take time due to having to weigh all the scientific data that would be required. Car manufacturers initially got in the way of it due to costs on their side, but after seeing the people accept the fact that this just needed to be done, they acquiesced.

Nowadays, we have none of that. We have a 4th estate that regularly takes sides and decries the efforts of the other side, and people who are barely able to participate in the necessary legal proceedings are too busy watching "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" to care about putting in the slightest effort to think these kinds of things thru- especially if the answer is complex and doesn't resolve in 35 seconds or less. They are further shown the inactivity of a government to actually do anything for fear of being unelected. If you tried to solve the auto fatality rate now, it would never get done because of the fear of the special interest group's influence and the fact that one side or the other sees no reason to do anything, unless they can do it all by themselves and take total credit for it.

As an NRA member and a responsible gun owner, I have no issue with background checks. I have no issue with a waiting period. I have no issue with lower capacity magazines or a moratorium on suppressors, silencers or bump-stocks. If that's the law of the land, I'll abide by it, and I can tell you that 99.5% of the NRA membership says the exact same thing as I do, but there are those in society who don't want to hear that- they only want to villify the other side and in actuality, they don't care to actually do anything but beat their breasts and cry "woe is us", because to do anything else is to actually be required to critically think through a problem. And they can't be bothered to do that.

The fact of the matter is that we, as responsible gun owners, we want this problem solved, too- but what we keep hearing is a solution that only curtails the legal issues when followed by people who respect the law and follow it, and by very definition, criminals do not follow the law. We have to look at that problem as part of the solution, because the legal and responsible gun owners (like me) do all the things that are required - and we also pay attention to the things we're not supposed to do (I own nothing automatic, I own no suppressors or bump stocks and I have registered all my weapons with the state even though I am not required in this state to do it) - but the outlaw side of this has yet to be talked about saliently. Until that topic gets talked about with equal time and equal passion, I'm going to continue to keep my guns in my house and on my person (I am licensed to carry) because of the idiot/asshole who thinks he's above the law.

So my suggestion on how to stop this crap from happening starts with all of us telling our representatives to stop bashing the other side on this issue (the guy asking President Obama the question is clearly listening to only one side here) and tell them to stop automatically assuming the worst on the other side of the aisle. They need to get their acts together and get together to start a real, dispassionate dialog on how to solve the problem. We, as a society, need to make our voices heard about the fact that neither side has the answer by themselves and that this kind of behavior from them and the press that covers it in this fashion - from either side - is unacceptable and we want real change and they had ALL better do something about this.

See- the deal here is that we as a society don't want to fix the problem.  We like the chaos.  Individually, we do want to fix the problem, but we as individuals want someone else to do the work.  We, individually, want to just cry about it and have the people that we put in power do the work, or we want someone like the press to cry on our behalf, but the bottom line is that as individuals, we really don't care.

Do I honestly believe that? 

You bet I do. And, I'm looking right at you when I say it.  And, hypocritically, I also think that I fall right into that demographic a bit, too.  And, I don't like to think about that of myself.

Now, I really want to be wrong about this.  I'd like to think that since we all bleed the same color blood that we'd all be united on this, but I just don't see it.  Instead, I see people who want to blame others (like the NRA) for the bloodshed, or I see others who say that any kind of restrictions placed on them as a "civil rights violation" - but either way, they just wanna bitch about it but not actually want to put any skin in the game.

What do we do about this?  How can we change it?  I think the very first part of making that change is to stop accepting that "chest beating" mentality as an acceptable form of discourse.  Folks- if we're gonna fix this, we need to stop yelling and start listening.  We need to think critically (something I'm constantly harping about) about this situation and take some forward steps.  If we don't, this kind of thing is going to continue to happen and that's the really unacceptable thing.

So, I'm wondering how many readers of this little article can put down their Democrat/Republican Dance Card and pick up their Human Being Dance Card and try to make a real difference?  Anyone?  Does anyone care?  Is anyone listening?