I haven't been getting these posted as quickly as I wanted to, but here's the link (http://hub.me/alH6R) to the third in the series. It's a fairly thorough breakdown on the subject of gun control comparing reason for and against it. This one focuses on fear. Fear of guns, and fear of losing guns. I also talk a little about how to bridge that fear and see eye to eye. I hope you like it!
Summary:
This series of articles is meant to break a complicated subject into easier segments. Each part will focus on one topic within a much larger idea. This part focuses on fear. Fear of guns, and fear of having them taken.
Fear of Firearms:
Fear fuels both sides of the gun control debate. One side is afraid gun nuts are going to go on a rampage and start killing. The other side is afraid of losing their rights, property, and life to a tyrannical government. There's enough to say about fear, it warrants a whole article by itself. We'll start with fear of firearms.
Many people are afraid of guns.
"Of course we are!" Negative Nancy chimes in. "Guns are scary. You'd be stupid not to be afraid of something that can kill."
I know, Nancy, but calm down a little so we can talk. It is perfectly sensible to be afraid of something that can zip at you, unseen, and kill you in an instant. Fear is a natural reaction. Without it, humanity would never have survived this long. Should we be afraid of guns? Probably. They have a lot of potential to be dangerous. As we discussed in the last article, firearms are designed for killing. Better firearms do a better job at it. There really is a lot of good reason to be afraid of what can happen when something goes wrong with guns. Or when something goes right, as their purpose is to kill.
Those of us who fear firearms also fear the mentality that goes with owning weapons. In this day and age, who needs a gun? Criminals and killers? Sure guns can be used for target practice, but why bother to practice shooting a target if you're never going to use a gun to kill? It may be fun, but there is no shortage of things to do for fun in our society. If you're not a hunter, police officer, body guard, or a soldier, what use is a gun?
Worse yet are the people hoarding weapons. What kind of crazy, paranoid nut needs to keep a huge cache of weapons? But more than that, what will set off someone who has a firearm? How often do we hear of road rage on the streets? How many times have we heard on the news that some new psycho whipped out a gun and started shooting a bunch of defenseless people? How many people have we come across on a daily basis who just don't seem like they can keep their anger in check? What if that loose cannon owns a gun?
Read the rest here: http://hub.me/alH6R