Sunday, January 13, 2013

Being a Realist Sucks, Sometimes

Gun owners are proving to be a disappointingly thin-skinned bunch.

I say that as a gun owner who doesn't believe for a minute that someone is going to come knocking one day and take my .38 away. As expected, the aftermath of the Newtown massacre has been as predictable as a Lifetime movie. Memorials strewn with candles and teddy bears. Cries for solutions and change. Legislators pledging action. Pro gun folks challenging anti-gun folks to come and take their weapons at their own risk. At the center of everything, there's this: Solutions are impossible. We're not one day closer to solving anything. We're just one day closer to another senseless act of violence. That's the only certainty.

Laws and regulations will continue to be enacted and ignored. Those who wrote the legislation will pose for photos and sound bites. Some will feel better. Most will just shrug their shoulders. Those are the realists who, like me, know that all the regulations in the world can't prevent tragedies. To me, the one person that could have most prevented Newtown from happening was Adam Lanza's mom. Her boy wasn't all there, yet he had access to a cache of weapons and knew how to use them. Say this for the mentally ill- they sure are adept with semi-automatic weaponry.

I guess I feel a little safer having a gun, though if a circumstance arises where I'd need it I can't say for sure if it'll help. I hope not to find out. As Newtown fades from front page to back, the end result will probably be more feel-good, meaningless regulation, selfish posturing and zero accomplishment. Simply being sad can never be enough these days