Too many guns

When will it ever end?  When will it ever end?

From the Los Angeles Times editorial pages today, December 3, 2015:

Enough. This nation's infatuation with guns — inflamed by the ludicrous stances of the NRA, and abetted by Congress' fear of that powerful but irresponsible group — is suicidal. There are too many guns, too easily obtained. Often they are in the hands of those who should not have them at all, such as the mentally ill.

It's absurd that one of the richest, freest, and most advanced societies in world history endures such a scourge with such equanimity. But there is hope. A Gallup poll in October found that 55% of Americans support stronger gun control measures, and other surveys have found that even a majority of NRA members support mandatory background checks — something the NRA itself has assiduously opposed. There is broad political support for stronger laws to address the nation's gun addiction, but gun control advocates have so far been unable to counter the money and organizational heft of the NRA. It's obscene that a single interest group is able to endanger an entire nation's safety.

The Supreme Court lent credibility to the fully-armed-America crowd in its 2008 Heller decision, which held that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual's right to bear arms for “traditionally lawful purposes,” such as self-protection in the home. It's a wrongheaded interpretation of wording that for decades was rightly understood to mean that organized military units, such as the National Guard, have a right to keep and bear arms.

We're stuck with the Heller ruling for now. But thankfully, the court also said the right to gun ownership was not absolute, and that the nation's history of gun ownership has also been one of gun regulation. So let's get at it. There is no need for civilians to own military-style weapons, or magazines that hold large numbers of cartridges that maximize carnage. There is no justification for selling or transferring a firearm to anyone who has not passed a stringent background check, whether it's a father turning over a gun to a daughter, or a gun shop selling to a stranger. We need to get rid of most concealed-carry laws and make sure there are no guns on school campuses. We need more trigger locks, locked cabinets and gun buybacks.

This crisis in American society must be combated through the ballot box, and through lobbying to loosen the iron grip the NRA holds on Congress and many state legislatures. That is where the pushback against this culture of death needs to occur. And it needs to occur now.

I grew up going deer hunting every year.  It was the thing to do.  I quit after some yay-hoo came bounding through an arroyo and inquired if I had seen anything (a deer) come out of the bushes at the bottom of the canyon.  This guy said, "I took a few shots into there because I thought I saw some rustling around."

A few minutes later a deer fawn emerged, badly wounded, and I had no choice but to put the little thing out of it's misery.   That was the last day I ever went hunting!  

If it takes target practice, or blasting a bird out of the sky to prove one's manhood...I guess that's OK.  In my opinion, the proliferation of firearms in the wrong hands in wrong and allowing people to conceal carry a firearm is way beyond the norm!  

England allows gun ownership...otherwise how could those folks go on a fox hunt?  But, you have to have a license to own a gun.    In our country we must pass a test to drive a car, and then we get licensed.  Shouldn't something like that be required to own a weapon?

Seems to me!!!!!