🚀 go-pugleaf

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I'd like to make some comments on this thread so far.

I tend to agree with what you're saying.  There is no easy answer to
the problems that plague our country.  The real problem is that so
many of our problems are so intertwined.  

We can't continue to treat the symptoms that ail our nation.  Placing
band-aids on problems only covers up the real issues.  Things like
teen-age smoking, drinking, pregnancy, etc.  These issues are real
problems that demand attention, but the general consensus is that if
we air enough TV commercials the problem will somehow magically
disappear.  

Relating this to the gun issue.   How can, we the people, say we are
responsible enough to possess weapons of destruction when we can't
even talk to our kids about smoking pot?   

I for one know how to use a gun.  I was in the Army for six years, and
fired a wide variety of weapons.  I trained in using grenade
launchers, pistols, machine guns, mines, and even rocket launchers.  I
am very comfortable in handling a weapon.  
I know I am  responsible when handling guns.  I know I could teach my
children how to properly handle and maintain a weapon.  My fear
though, is of those that are ignorant in their use.  It is still legal
for anyone to just pick up a shotgun and start firing it.  No license
necessary.  No prior training.  Nothing.

These are the same people that cannot tie their shoe laces without
difficulty.  Yet the governement has deemed them competent to handle a
weapon, because they have a constitutional right.  That's just plain
silly.  Things need to change.  I don't know how or what, but it needs
to happen.  

I don't have a problem with guns, per se.  Guns aren't the real
problem.  Guns are a part of the problem.  The real problem is hard to
root out, because it's buried under hundreds of little problems.  The
easy solution is to ban guns.  (This goes back to the band-aid
analogy.)  The bleeding won't stop, but it may buy us enough time to
find the source.   

Why would a patriotic american want to ban guns?  It sounds silly I
know, but I fear that we must relinquish certain rights to protect us
from ourselves.  Americans have become their own worst enemy.    


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NOYB [SC]
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