Aurora, One Year Ago Today

We have made it too easy for too many people to buy lethal weapons, who then use them to kill, injure, threaten and intimidate. In every other civilized, developed country of the world recognized as free by virtue of representative government, and operating under rule of law, not the law of the jungle, lethal force is not allowed as well excuse and permit it, and lethal force is not possessed by so many with so little regulation.  We have given to much license to armed vigilantes to shoot people, without accountability or consequence.

Our failure to better control, limit and regulate firearms and firearms violence is not just uncivilized, it is ill advised, it is suicidal.  We are losing American lives at a rate unprecedented in the developed world.  We lose more children to firearms violence every year than we do to terrorism in the U.S.  We have more occurrences of mass shootings than any comparable country.

Current  right wing legislation and policies like stand your ground encourage conflict and aggression; current conservative obsessions with firearms, current threats from the right of insurgency, insurrection and sedition are all detrimental to a law abiding, safe and civil society; our gun culture, in its present form and the amount of guns in less than ideal hands are threats against the public health and safety.

The preamble of the U.S. Constitution, the original document before the 2nd Amendment was added was very clear in the intent of government and our laws under that government:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Lax gun laws results in injustice, a lack of domestic tranquility and stability.  We do NOT rely on civilian guns for our common defense, because we now have a more than adequate military for that purpose.  Firearm violence is not consistent with the general welfare, as a horrific public health danger, OR liberty.

Take a moment today to remember the victims of our lax gun laws and the violent insanity of James Holmes a year ago today.  Don't stop there; support changing our lax gun laws, instead of the insanity of letting guns be too easily purchased by those who should not have them.  The second Amendment should not be allowed to negate the intent of the Constitution through poor interpretation or stupidity.

The Constitution, as it has been noted, is not a suicide pact, and that includes not a suicide pact for people like those killed in Aurora, Colorado to be the victims of gun violence.  While the pro-gun advocates like to use the phrase "guns don't kill people, people do", the reality is that guns make it easier for more people to kill themselves and other people easily.  Without guns, and easy access to guns, that occurs far less often.