Re: bullies

Martin Luther King Jr. said it best: "An eye for an eye leaves everybody blind." When you react to a bully with violence, everybody loses. You sink to their level. Sometimes it's necessary, but it should be a last resort. And guns are rarely ever used for self-defense; they almost always become easy solutions in cases of reactionary violence. I know, conservatives like to point out that most gun murders are committed by people with criminal records already. I understand that, but it doesn't invalidate the fact that it's far easier to kill someone with a gun than with blunt or edged weapons and there are tons of murders that never would've happened if guns weren't present. That doesn't mean I believe all guns should be taken away, but our culture should see gun ownership as distasteful.

It's perhaps a necessary evil, not a source of pride. I have learned to use firearms; I live in the South, after all, and I want to know how to defend myself if I need to. But I don't keep guns around me, I don't like guns, and I don't go around citing what great things they are. And I sure as HELL don't believe we should be handing them out to kids. I personally know of a local case where a little boy--a twin, in fact--shot and killed himself when he and his brother were playing with guns. Kids want to make everything into toys, and guns are not toys. If you think giving guns to kids will improve their lives, you've lost your freakin' mind. Our culture worships guns and violence. Is it really any wonder that it leads to criminals loving and using guns? Maybe in some countries they are taught to have the proper respect for guns and that's why they don't have a lot of violence there. That's not true of the US. I suspect that we could use a temporary ban, until we learn to stop worshiping Jesse James and view guns with the proper perspective.