Imagine we accomplished a feat in the government's crackdown on the issue of gun violence and all firearms were taken off the street. Owning a firearm is now illegal for everyone and strict penalties enforced should you be found with one in your possession. Would this decrease violent crime or would we simply find another way to kill each other?
Let's look to an age before the invention of the conventional firearm. Imagine a dispute over a debt has broken out at a local nightclub and one very bloodied and battered individual is crawling backward on the sidewalk. His pursuer is carrying a medieval weapon known as a flail.
In the days when he simply carried a firearm, he could never have gotten his point across with this much voracity. Something about really getting in there to do the work really brings the adrenaline up. And this heavy spiked metal ball connected to a blood stained oak handle by a thick chain has become his trademark. Before, those that owed him money faced the possibility of getting shot but didn't seem to mind. Today, his debtors pay him on time much more than they had in the past. They would or they would end up like this unfortunate fellow. He growls as the heavy spiked ball came down.
Perhaps the scenario is a bit graphic, but it's intended to be. If we were able to totally abolish firearms there would still be violent crime only with another form of weapon. So what does gun control intend to accomplish? Perhaps we should take a step back and look at what the real issues are. We are a violent society, "fundamentally insane" as Steve Buscimi quoted in the movie, "Con Air". But this is not a recent development. We have been violent for a very long time according to our documented history.
The solution is not a return to the value of human life, as a society, we've never visited there. Human life is a concept, an abstract, a keyword we use to describe compassion for others. The value we place upon human life should be priceless.
It's too easy to get caught up in a moment of confusion and rage and, for a brief instant, value the death of another even above the survival of ourselves. Consequences bring us to our senses later but the deed has already been done. Perhaps in that single moment you took a life and would never do so again. But now you are incarcerated among others that have killed. You then become a part of an ideology of murder and become indoctrinated into a society of murderous intent. You serve your time and get released even more dangerous to us all than you were before you went to prison.
A true rehabilitation system would be better served in our schools. Children could be given play money and present them to a table where pictures of loved ones, friends, teachers, and police officers were displayed. The child would be asked to divide up their money between each image with the most money being placed upon the image they most valued.
The child's concept of money is irrelevant, however, the image they value the least is significant. After the experiment, the children are asked, "What is it about the person in the image which caused you to place so little value in them?" The innocence of children is profound. The typical answer will be, "I didn't have enough money to value them all." And this is the root of our issue overall.
We can teach our children that they do have enough love within them to share equally with everyone. We can teach them what is beautiful and special about each race and every culture. We can show them the benefits of finding the best of people, even inside those that make them angry or do not share their beliefs. In the long term, perhaps these children will grow to not even want a firearm.
Previously Posted on FullofKnowlege.com
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