Grieving

Grieving


Are the Christmas trees up yet? Are carols playing? They should be. This is supposed to be the season of peace and joy because a Child was born to us.

But for me, and so many others around the world, the decorations on the trees don’t twinkle. And the carols are just noise.

Yes, I am writing about what happened in Connecticut Friday. And what happened in China as well. (http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-man-slashes-22-children-near-china-school-20121214,0,6383015.story)

It is hard to understand why children are the targets of such violence. Not just in the incidents I mentioned, but in Syria, the Gaza strip, everywhere. Your local paper will be full of some horrible fate that befalls a child at this time of year.

Yes, news outlets, like malls, are trying to sell you news. But if there was a just and merciful God, why now? Why any child? At any time?

Why?

In the United States, the hue and cry is going up about “gun control.” Having personal firearms is in our Constitution, placed there by our founders who knew first-hand that weapons were needed to secure liberty. They wanted to make sure that the people’s right to have firearms was secure.

Well, by that logic, I should have a Patriot missile battery in the back yard. Or a suitcase-sized nuke. You never know when the “gov’mnt” is going to do something foolish, and citizens will need to revolt.

I think you know why I don’t. And why most of us (I pray) do not. I don’t think the Founders meant for us to have weapons of mass destruction.

Having said that, I do think it is time to review our gun laws. I do think people have the right to a weapon, but does it have to be an automatic? Does it need to be able to hold extended clips? Sig Sauers and Glocks, the weapons used, normally hold 15 rounds. BUT, magazines to extend the number of rounds (bullets) in the weapon before reloading are readily available. Should they be?

Let’s take a look at our licensing of weapons. Does it have to be that fast? You can walk in to a gun dealer and walk out with a weapon the same day in some places. Yes, the system does bottle up, but that is fast.

Should people in drug treatment lose their weapons automatically? Should there be better reporting of those committed to a psychiatric or drug treatment facility or program so gun licenses can be suspended or revoked?

Those are going to be tough, emotional issues. And I challenge our lawmakers to debate the issue without politics rearing its head.

We owe our kids no less.