Monday, October 28, 2013

OCTOBER 24, 2013

      There was one story, a fourteen year old student in Massachusetts, charged with stabbing and killing a teacher, dumping her body behind the school.  Another, a twelve year old in Nevada shot two classmates, killed a teacher and then himself.  And another, a seven year old killer.  Another, police kill a boy playing with a toy assault rifle.  Another--well, I could go on and so could you.

 
     It's sad, of course--children killed, children as killers.  But I think the truth is, in the country we have chosen to live in, it's inevitable.  We have chosen a country in which it is relatively easy to own and use a gun.  We want this.  You can blame it on our past--taming a large place full of wild animals--but other countries have violent pasts too and much more peaceful presents.

     The National Rifle Association is an excellent lobby, but that is partly because it is lobbying for the kind of America most of us seem to want.   I hope we're happy with it.  I'm not – not by a long shot, but I'm just one guy.

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