Tyranny and an Armed Public

The Founders of our great Nation knew that a representive republic would be hard to keep. The constant threat of tyranny by the government, was purposely subdued by insisting on the right of the People to keep and bear arms. The definition of arms is not tied to the evolution and improvement on them, but instead, is clarified by the words "shall not be infringed". The common sense of the People determine what is acceptable and what is not. Nuclear weapons, heavy artillery, machine guns, etc., are widely accepted as illegal to individually own, (machine guns being allowed only by federal license).

The cry from anti-gun groups is that assault weapons should be illegal. The dirty little secret is that they ARE illegal. Here is where word play comes in. The definition of an assault rifle is that it has selective fire capability, meaning- single shot, semi auto, AND fully automatic. The AR-15 fifle used by the deranged shooter in Colorado was not an assault rifle, but a clone that fired in semi-automatic fashion, just like many hunting rifles. This rifle just looks like it's military counterpart. You can purchase these rifles in several "looks"at your local Wal-Mart. The fact is, the Colorado shooter could just have easily bought a traditional hunting semi-automatic rifle with detachable clips, and used it to do the exact same harm.

Think about this...a deranged individual repeats the cinema massacre but uses molotov cocktails instead. The results could have been even more horrible, with many dead and severely wounded. What would be the resulting wrath of the citizenry? Outlaw gasoline? Matches?

Unfortunately, there is no 100% way to detect future psychopaths. Some mentally ill people do give warning signs, but not all do. Placing the blame on inanimate objects, rather than the person committing the crime is stupid. According to government statistics , overall violent crime is down. Yes, terrible things happen. Yes, we can strive to try to prevent terrible events such as the Colorado shootings, but we must carefully place our remedies. The cinema in Aurora, Colorado was a "gun free zone", but having such a rule did not prevent this tragedy.