I’ve started taking a more active role as a gun-control activist in recent days.  I even went as far as maintaining a debate on Facebook—something I never do.  In the end, however, the debate appears to be useless.  The Gun Control versus Gun Rights debate is very much like the abortion debate in this country.  No one moves an inch.  It’s not because the people are so engrained, though.  It’s because they are arguing two different things.

With abortion, one side with say, “You are killing babies.”  When the other side responds, it won’t be, “It’s the killing of a fetus, not a baby.”  No.  The stance is more like, “This is my body.  You cannot tell me what to do with my own body.”  This type of argument allows for no middle ground to ever be made—because the debate starts in a different place entirely.  The same thing happens with gun control.

I will argue that there is no reason anyone in this country needs a semi-automatic weapon or extended clips.  Instead of taking up that debate, the responses range from “criminals don’t follow laws” to “guns don’t kill people; people kill people.”  No matter how you debate the issue, no progress will ever be made.  It’s unfortunate.  Because something needs to be changed.  Now.

Everywhere I look, gun-rights activists are saying the same thing.  Allow for arms on schools.  Bloggers are writing about it.  The NRA wants it.  The idea, as I read it, is to get rid of gun-free areas in our society.  Having gun-free areas means that someone like the Newtown shooter can’t be stopped because there isn’t a good guy with a gun.

I don’t understand this argument.  I want to.  But I can’t.  Having more guns in our society than anywhere else in the world means one thing to me: there are more guns lying around when we snap.  People snap and do stupid things all over the world.  But, if there is a gun at hand, so much damage can be done.  All I can think is, “How many lives would have been spared in Aurora if he didn’t have an extended magazine?”  Then, “How many lives would have been spared in Newton if he didn’t have a semi-automatic?”

This isn’t a debate to me anymore.  This is me being disgusted with my country.  Every time I hear a report that gun and ammunition sales are up as a result of Newton, I become more and more disgusted with the gun-rights side of this country.  They created the culture of guns in this country.  They are the ones that make it easy for some deranged soul to get his hands on a killing machine and mow down so many people.

This isn’t a debate anymore.  I’m not going to listen to the side that stands firm after they let 20 first-graders get mowed down by hundreds of bullets.   That shouldn’t be possible in this country.  If you own a semi-automatic, don’t be surprised when we take it away from you.  You have no reason to own it.  You are only adding to the problem.

Ban ALL semi-Automatic weapons.

Ban ALL extended magazines.

Join the cause at Demand a Plan. Then Write your elected officials, as I did.