SOMETIMES THERE CAN BE NO UNDERSTANDING

This blog and the columns I write for newspapers are designed to offer commentary on the events of the day. Most of the time words flow rather freely from my brain. Today as I write, however, words are harder to put together. Christmas is supposed to be a happy time. It should not be a time to consider the horror of children being murdered by a deranged psychopath. There is no making sense of this tragedy. There is no convenient explanation which gives solace. There is only the reality and the pain.

Of course the usual suspects are offering their usual explanations of this murderous scene and they are also offering their usual solutions. Number one is always to blame the gun. Legislation will be introduced to ban “assault weapons” and all manner of perceived dangerous weapons to keep them out of the hands of free American people. Does any thinking person really think denying guns to legitimate, sane citizens will have any effect on the crazies in our midst? It has been said many times before that when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. Let’s face it, laws only affect law abiding people. Bad guys don’t pay any attention to laws and they surely don’t obey them.  

Consider this. I heard a West Point instructor today explain that violent video games are used to desensitize individuals in their training for war. Apparently the more blood and guts one is exposed to, the easier it is for them to kill others. I found that interesting.

The second amendment is our guarantee of keeping and bearing weapons. These weapons are not only to protect us from crooks but primarily to protect us from our government. I also heard this interesting little tidbit. “Armed people are citizens, unarmed people are subjects.” A fact we should never forget.

These then are my conclusions. These rare and random events, while they are indeed tragic, are in fact rare and random. Another truth is there are individuals in our free society running loose who should be in cages. Anyone who believes registering guns or even banning certain “assault weapons” will curtail nutcases is not thinking clearly. A gun is a tool just like a knife or a baseball bat is a tool. It is not now nor has it ever been the tool, it is the perpetrator who is the problem. Had there been anyone near this latest massacre site who also had a gun and used it, there might have been far fewer deaths of innocent children. The only way to stop a gun is with a gun, period.

We have the great benefit of living in a free country. Sadly, though, not everyone who lives in this free society is equipped to be free. In a country of over 330 million people, we are bound to have some misfits. There will be the evil. There will be the disturbed. There will just be nutcases who have evaded the mental health system and the justice system. Such is life in a free society.

How many of you know someone who you think is just not playing with a full deck? They may be eccentric, or just not “normal.” Should they be reported to the police? What would be their crime? Obviously we cannot have preemptive,  preventive law enforcement. Law enforcement comes into play only after the law is broken.

Today our job is to mourn and to clean up the mess caused by a nutcase. There can be no understanding. Just mourn and clean up. There are no guarantees in life, not for you or for me, and certainly not for those little children in Connecticut. I hope and believe tomorrow will be a brighter day for all of us. Our broken hearts will mend. Tomorrow will be a better day.

Ron Scarbro December 26, 2012