The key, as best I see it, is to leave most of the guns alone (and the video games, Senator Clinton) and provide real health insurance for everyone, then to begin the slow process of rebuilding a viable middle class in America.
If the NRA, among others, truly wants to win this debate, it should dedicate a large percentage of its lobbying resources to promoting guaranteed affordable (free is better), comprehensive health care coverage for every American. Additionally, if you want to keep your firearm, tell your elected representatives that tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans should be rolled back in favor of serious tax breaks for the middle class. This will begin to close the divide between crime and earning an honest living. Proper health care will begin to tackle the rate of untreated mental illnesses which, at the very least, will reduce the numbers of gun crimes by those of us who aren't able to handle or fully process the torque of modern American reality.
UPDATE: Wednesday, 4/18/07. Just wanted to add something here. I am most definitely not blaming the VT massacre on the president. You're welcome to believe that, but you'd be terribly wrong. All I have suggested is that the president's shoot-first preemptive approach isn't setting the proper example for an entire generation of Americans.
FROM THE COMMENTS: Virigina Tech student "Tim" has made some outstanding points:
It is not about guns. The deaths of over 30 students and faculty of Virginia Tech should not be blamed on two guns. Guns do not kill people, people kill. We choose the debate of gun control at this time, because there are no other times in which it is as appropriate. I question the thought process of those who state that this would have been less of a problem if more people carried guns - if only one of the students sitting in one of those classrooms could have reached into his or her bag to pull out a handgun to end the situation sooner.We give names to people like the shooter at Virginia Tech - Monsters, Maniacs, Evil-doers. Before they were given those names, we gave them the names of son, neighbor, friend, and fellow student. In order to explain why one of us would do something like this, we must first expel the person from the village and label him an outsider.
When people talk of the need to bear arms in order for protection, they speak of incidents of unknown assailants in the home or down a dark alley. They speak of the hidden maniacs and monsters amongst us. They never speak of the person sitting next to them at work, at home, or in the classroom that has been emotionally been pushed beyond reason, because then it becomes a son, neighbor, friend, fellow student, or yourself.
In a society of concealed handguns, the dark alleys do not concern me as much as the emotions of myself and my fellow man who in the moments of irrationality can cause unknown horror.
Tim
Virginia Tech Studentcross-posted from Huffingtonpost.com
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