Guns Don’t Kill People: Dr. J Discusses the Issue of Gun Control

Contributor: “Dr. J”
Dr. J offers his irreverent, slightly irrelevant, but possibly useful opinions on health and fitness. A Florida surgeon and fitness freak with a black belt in karate, he runs 50 miles a week and flies a Cherokee Arrow 200.

(CC) mikejmartelli/Flickr

I was horrified after hearing the news of the mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school.

I don’t like guns. That’s not to say I am uncomfortable or unfamiliar with them and their uses. I won several awards for marksmanship, and my best friend in college was captain of the university’s conference championship rifle team.

I have heard it said that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. I see it this way: guns don’t kill people… people kill people… and they often use that all-too-available gun to do it!

Then there are all the accidental deaths,frequently of children, from guns. Perhaps, “guns don’t kill children, children kill children,” could be considered as an alternative gun lobby mantra.

Guns kill or wound too fast, and are too easy to use quickly in the heat of anger. Laws restricting the use of guns as well as laws enforcing safer practices in the use of guns have been shown to help reduce gun damage. I do not like seeing the results, nor having to treat gunshot wounds. They are my least favorite area of surgery.

There is no question in my mind that guns are a major problem. No other weapon makes it so easy to kill something. No other weapon can self-discharge, and kill or maim without needing a person’s accompanying action. Countless people have been shot when a dropped or disturbed weapon has accidentally discharged, or when cleaning their gun, or when their child has found and was playing with their gun.

The foundation of this tower of carnage is the Second Amendment to the Constitution of The United 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.” It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights.

The Second Amendment, in my opinion, does not support the mass availability of firearms to the general public. It was originally designed by a fledgling country and its need for a well-regulated militia. This is an archaic amendment maintained by archaic selfish thinking.

In my opinion, there is no logical reason nor benefit with having the mass availability of guns for a modern society.

The only sane action would be to eliminate guns. If that is not realistic, then enforceable gun control laws that severely restrict their manufacture, distribution and use would be the next obvious choice.

The need for gun control is not a new story. With each of these horrible events, the limiting of guns in the U.S. becomes a recurring discussion, followed by the recurring reaction by gun supporters as to the necessity and benefit of firearms.

The news commented that it was not common to have armed guards at elementary schools. That will change as society struggles to solve problems by doing everything but face the real problem.

However, gun supporters do not need to worry. As with every time these tragedies have happened in the past, this gun control sanity too shall pass.

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Guns Don’t Kill People: Dr. J Discusses the Issue of Gun Control is a post from: CalorieLab - Health News & Information Blog

Source: http://calorielab.com/news/2012/12/17/guns-dont-kill-people-dr-j-discusses-the-issue-of-gun-control/

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