Every death is a tragedy and mass murders are an
abomination. The latest student shooting in Florida has triggered a youth
movement for gun control. While it is important to have laws, we must also
understand the constitution and property rights. Exploitation of a tragedy and
using children for political gain is not the right way to make constitutional
changes.
There is no doubt that the U.S has the greatest number of
reported shootings, but most of it is done either by criminals or police on
criminals. Chicago has the largest number of black on black shootings in the
country. The racial divided also contributes to much of the shootings. In many cases
of police shootings it is quite clear that many victims, who happen to be
black, rarely stop when called upon to do so by the police. Gangs who do not
use legal firearms shoot each other or innocent by-standers. Terrorists and
criminals use guns which they acquire illegally.
In my view, there is no doubt that semi-automatic guns cause
a lot of damage, and assault weapons should be regulated in some way. President
Trump has put forward a number of suggestions including the prohibition of bump
stocks and perhaps a 21 year age limit for owners. I agree with the regulation
of assault weapons, but do not agree with the age limit. If a government can
place a gun in the hands of an 18 year old to go to war, why should he not be
able to own a gun legally? Furthermore, most mass shootings or school attacks
are used to attempt a change in the laws, but rarely do all the relevant facts
taken into consideration or form part of the debate.
To start with, why is the mental state of a shooter always
comes to the fore when there is a terrorist attack, but rarely when there is a
school shooting? There is also a common thread in those school shootings, the
perpetrator is always a loner, or is from a one parent family. The breakdown of
the family and the increase of children without a father figure tend to be on
the increase and too often contribute to lawlessness as well as mental issues.
Schools and teachers have become the guardian of many children, which leads us
to the very disturbing issue of control.
The United States Constitution is quite clear on gun
ownership under the Second Amendment which states: ‘A well-regulated Militia, being necessary
to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,
shall not be infringed. The problem is that the law was written hundreds of
years ago and firearms have changed from the one bullet black powder gun to
automatic and semi-automatic firearms that fires dozens of bullets in seconds.
The Left has always been against the ownership of firearms and at every
opportunity they have attempted to change the law. This time the youth movement
organizers of the ‘March for our lives’ seem to be supported by the Democrats.
It is quite apparent that these high school students could not have organized
these protest marches without the financial help of some organizations with
deep pockets
The second amendment came about because many in the Founding
generation believed that governments are prone to use soldiers to oppress the
people. While we may live under different circumstances, one may also believe
that the Left would want to control guns for a different purpose than stopping
crime. Oppression comes about with the help of the military, indoctrination is
done through education. While no democratic government is openly trying to
oppress the people by military rule, it is becoming quite apparent that our
education system is being used, for the past two decades, to indoctrinate the
youth.
General studies used to be a class where students were
taught civics and other subjects, Today social studies are all about social
justice, gender identity, Islamophobia but not Christianophobia, climate change, open borders and sanctuary cities,
the dangers of ‘white privilege’ political correctness and other socialist
curriculum. It seems to me that students today are being brainwashed by a cabal
of leftist teachers using Soviet style state indoctrination. Universities have
taken the steps to punish professors and students who have different views different
from their leftist agenda. Freedom of speech in many cases is being stifled in
institutions of higher learning. Therefore the system produces teachers who
have only one view and thus profess collectivism over individualism.
The left has been working on this plan of indoctrination for
decades and they are succeeding. Trudeau’s election in Canada is further proof
of this trend. The uprising of students affected by the Florida shootings is a
manifestation of this trend. I give credit to any young person who takes a
stand, but they must also be aware of being used for a much larger agenda. I am
worried when I see four year old kids marching to stop the sale of guns or
changing laws that may affect property rights. Canada already has a system to
be trained before owning a gun, we already have restrictions on the type of
guns that can be owned. The Trudeau government is using the “March for our
lives’ to mobilize its supporters to make changes to existing gun ownership
laws. Most of the protesters have no idea about the law or the rights of
others. The majority of gun owners are hunters, sports enthusiasts, and are law
abiding citizens, and they should not be placed in the same category of
criminals who in most case possess illegal guns. By the way countries like
Switzerland who have many guns have less shootings, contrast this with Honduras
which has fewer guns but 20 times the murder rate of the U.S.
Be very careful; students marching in Washington and many
other cities around the world, is not about guns. It is about the exploitation
of our youths into the furtherance of a socialist agenda. What is the next
step: Children reporting their parents? There is a need for a discussion about
guns, and shootings, but we must also take a deep breath before we start
shooting in the dark and abolishing people’s rights and implementing a socialist
agenda through the back door.
