Everyone Relax.....The NRA Has Spoken!

   Yup! The powerful gun lobby group in the States has indeed chimed in on the Newtown massacre after a week of silence. And I find it totally inappropriate that they chose to hold a news conference a week to the day after 26 people were slaughtered at the elementary school. On a day when church and other bells were tolling 26 times, one for each of the 20 children and 6 adults, in many communities across the U.S.
   And needless to say, the NRA claims tougher gun laws will not prevent future shootings. The groups Vice President, Wayne LaPierre, instead called for armed guards to be put in every school across that wonderful nation. In effect, that means turning schools into prisons. What next? Keep the kids in segregation cells to make sure they're safe?
   He also trotted out the tired old argument we hear about blaming ultra violent video games like Grand Theft Auto and Bulletstorm for such tragic massacres. Bull fucking shit! I've been hearing the argument about such games de-sensitizing kids to violence for years. In some cases, I'm sure they do. But most of the young people I know realize there's a difference between such games and real life. Granted, there are a few who either can't or don't know the difference. But if the suggestion is ban violent video games.....that simply ain't gonna fly.
   Mr. LaPierre also trotted out the tired old argument about the media for "vilifying guns and gun owners, and for publicizing inaccuracies about guns". Cough (bullshit) cough. The media does not vilify guns and gun owners. They vilify the people who use guns to kill a lot of other people.
   He also suggested that "gun free" school designations actually tell every insane killer in America that schools are the safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk. I also heard him suggest that there should be a national Mental Health Registry set up.
   In my humble (?) opinion, Mr. LaPierre is living in some kind of La-La land. In Canada, we have, in my humble (?) opinion overly strict regulations. Hell, the government just did away with the long gun registry. Which is a good thing. We still have to have an FAC (Firearms Acquisition Certificate) where the owner is thoroughly checked before he/shhe is allowed to buy a gun. Much stricter that some parts of the States.
   Does the U.S need a stricter form of gun control? I'll leave that up to the politicians there to decide. And one very important point about the massacre that I didn't hear from Mr. LaPierre during what I saw watching the news conference. The guns used were all legally obtained by Adam Lanza's mother. And he stole them. I guess they should also be calling for stricter gun storage laws too.
   'Nuff said.