I tried to stay on the sidelines; I really did. But, there are times when my hand is forced. This is one of those times.
In the wake of the Aurora, CO shooting that left 12 people dead and 59 people injured, there was a massive outpouring of sympathy from all over the country. That’s a good thing, because it means we’re still human here. Of course, it also brought out the talking heads to scream their agendas for the world to hear, and for their avatars to spread their message to the unwashed masses like a clean rag of justice.
To those people I say, “Stop it.”
Here’s the deal: I’ve been seeing a lot of my Conservative friends saying silly things like, “Well, if someone in the theater had a gun, they could’ve shot him before he killed anyone.” Or better yet, swapping out the pronoun “they” with “I”. There are a couple of problems with that scenario, and I’ll take them in no particular order. Number one: there is no way in hell you would’ve stopped him. None. I don’t care how badass you may think you are…you’re not. There was tear gas everywhere, it was dark, and people were running around in a panic. What the hell do you think you would’ve done? There is only one person I can think of who would’ve been able to stop him, and that’s Commander Shepard from the Mass Effect series…but Commander Shepard ain’t real.
Number two: let’s say you did have a gun, and let’s say you did get some shots off. Chances are that – while you may get him (that’s a giant leap of faith there) – you may also shoot and kill innocent bystanders as well. Then what? In your haste to be a hero, you just killed an innocent person whose only crime was getting in your way while trying to get away from a bunch of whackjobs with guns. Would you want that on your conscience? I know I wouldn’t. On that note, if you’re the type of person to say, “Oh, that’s just collateral damage,” then I don’t think I want to know you anymore. Remove yourself from my life immediately.
Now, there are my Liberal leaning friends who say that all guns are evil and that all guns should be outlawed. To those people I say, “Stop it.” The problem isn’t that all guns are bad. It’s that people are. We humans have a propensity for finding new and inventive ways to kill each other. If he didn’t have a gun, he would’ve done something worse. Maybe he would’ve had some explosives in a van and ran that into the theater, killing more people. Or maybe he would’ve taken that van and run over people as they left the theater. Then what? You gonna outlaw vans?
Look: there is never a clear answer for people like his guy. Hell something like this is even mentioned in The Dark Knight when Alfred is talking to Bruce Wayne: “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
Step back and think about a better way to keep everyone safe, and stop jumping to extremes. We’ll all be better off for it in the long run.