Commentary

...People are the Problem

Our national heritage of firearm ownership and use is now being degraded into the current societal scapegoat by the people who aim to make you more dependent on a bigger and more powerful government.

Firearms, a longstanding symbol of American freedom and liberty, are now the scapegoat of this nation's media and politicians.

How the hell did things change? Two hundred years ago a firearm was as essential as a telephone is today. One hundred years ago a man measured himself by how well he shot, and by the quality of his weapon. Fifty years ago people met and had fun in shooting clubs at ranges all over this nation. Presently, people must traverse hundreds of yards of red tape simply to purchase a firearm, and receive an untold amount of unacknowledged condemnation. Example being: one buys a 12-gauge for home protection, makes a comment to a person at work, and they give him a look with narrowed eyebrows that says: "Didn't you even watch the Columbine footage?" that just drips with self righteous attitude. Before you know it, you're branded a nut case because you went out and bought a firearm.

Don't stop reading. Columbine was sick, but it wasn't the fault of the firearms. You'll find no sympathy for those twisted fools here in this article; you'll only find sympathy for the firearm owner. Because those who own a gun or rifle for their personal protection or recreation are unfairly branded either as a psycho or a redneck. There is a perceptible coercive effort to influence individuals into not purchasing a firearm either through legislation, or flat out media blacklisting.

The misguided action of two perverted malcontents is the newest threat to the Second Amendment, because it spawns the knee-jerk legislation to take away our American right to own firearms. Most frustrating of all about this trend is that the people who use firearms as a means to become "real men" or "pass judgment" are not representative of the majority of firearm owners. If they were, this country would fall into a state of chaos unimaginable. Therefore one can clearly see it is not the firearms which are the cause of the violence, but the people.

My first reaction when I hear the news that some sicko has gone nuts and let loose a clip in a crowded place is: "How the hell did this person get to the point where he could do such a thing?" How has our society degraded to the point where a person will do that, especially if that person is only a teenager? Where the hell are the parents, teachers, coaches and priests who are supposed to be supporting and guiding these teenagers?

Laws restricting firearms have just become stricter over time, yet the crimes committed with them have become more senselessly savage. One can't buy assault weapons in many states today, yet almost every state has stood witness to a senseless shooting in a school or other public area.

The real problem isn't the guns, rifles and pistols; it's our whole culture. When most of a nation's youth are being raised by either a television or computer screen, there are going to be serious problems, i.e. schoolyard shootings.

I feel that if a parent goes and buys their 13-year-old child a .22 rifle, and then takes them out to a shooting range or hunting they will do a greater service to their child than letting them rot in front of the internet or television. It will get the kid out into the fresh air and let him vent his frustration in a healthy way, instead of just absorbing negative images.

A firearm doesn't coerce a person into picking it up and using it against others in a senseless violent way, the person does it of their own volition. This occurs when parents, teachers, coaches and priests fail in what they're supposed to do. If parents can realize their kid is stockpiling enough weaponry and ammunition to take out most of his school, it isn't the state's fault; it is the parents' fault.

Scapegoating firearms rather than people is too quick a condemnation. Weapons were made through the process of supply and demand and they serve a purpose.

Assault weapons serve a larger purpose then home protection though. Those against guns feel that because the amendment allows for the right to bear arms to keep a well-regulated militia it is outdated and archaic. Rather the key point of the amendment is to protect us from our own government. The militia is there to defend against a tyranny of our own doing, for as Thomas Jefferson once said: "A little revolution every now and then is a good thing."

Yet I don't want to tear this government down. I hate the current administration because it sold out to the Chinese and dragged the office down into immoral slime, but I don't want to revolt. I just want to have my right to defend my family and my house with my own firearms. I do not want to have to rely on the government to come and protect me. It is the liberals, Democrats and soft Republicans who are out for big government who want to take your firearms away and therefore make you more dependent on big government.

Let's retain the few rights we do have, and not let the actions of a few disturbed individuals take those rights away from us. The proponents of big government are always looking to take your personal rights away and these shootings are prime examples of media-hyped tragedies that the liberals and soft conservatives use to take rights away.

Firearms are dangerous, but if people will just understand that they are not the problem, but only an accessory to the problem we will all be better off. The problem is not how people are killing each other, but why people are killing each other.

B.D. Gerhert, a sophomore majoring in substance abuse prevention, is undercover for the Oregon Commentator