How do you really spot the bad guys?
How do you really spot the bad guys?
I've been reading how the violence problem in our country can be settled by making sure "good guys" have guns and "bad guys" don't. How does anyone know who is a "good guy" and who is a "bad guy"? There are many people without a criminal background who are very capable of bad things with guns.
The Bible says we are all sinners. We all have good and bad emotions. We have undiagnosed psychological issues, people off their meds, anger management issues, drinking, drugs, lack of a job, racial prejudice, immaturity, money issues between spouses. Who can truly say they grew up in a functional family? There are many potential flash points in anybody's life and if a gun is handy, look out. Suddenly you don't have the time to let your emotional turmoil dissipate. People say they buy guns to protect themselves from intruders but they're much more likely to use it on someone they care about. As we found out in Newtown they're not always careful about securing their guns and ammo.
Who knows why the mother of the Newtown killer felt the need to buy such an imposing arsenal? Apparently she was so paranoid about "bad guys" she lost sight of the fact that she was raising someone who turned out to be one. Hindsight is always 20-20. It's easy to label someone a "bad guy" after they've pulled the trigger the first time. The trick is to see it coming, and as a country we are very bad at that.
The NRA apparently thinks that it's as easy as when the good witch of the north asked Dorothy, "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" We can safely say angry people with a gun nearby are potential bad guys; angry people without a gun are just normal.
Rick Hagedorn
Elgin