Constable: Easier to curb carnage than hate

Muslims, gays, guns, gun-owners, gun-grabbers, politicians, Republicans, Democrats, Socialists, Communists, conservatives, liberals, Jews, Christians, Palestinians, Syrians, Africans, Mexicans, women, men, blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians, transgendered people, old, young, college-educated elitists, uneducated morons, Hillary, Trump, Bernie, Obama, teachers, Prius drivers, pickup drivers, Catholics, protestants, atheists, Southerners, Northerners, New Yorkers, Californians, welfare recipients, CEOs, rich, poor, vegans, helicopter parents, parents who don't control their kids, couples without kids, dog people, cat people, celebrities, Fox News, MSNBC, the Washington Post and the rest of the media: Did I forget anybody we hate?

Admittedly, we have a pretty long hate list in the United States of America. Sometimes our hates overlap. People who hate and fear Muslims but also hate and fear gay people have a difficult time sorting the hate following the massacre that left 50 people dead at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. They don't want their hate of all Muslims because of the action of one Muslim to be seen as some sort of support for homosexuals, nor do they want a deadly reminder that their hate of gays puts them on the same side as the Muslim gunman.

Hate can be complicated.

The Bible says that God Himself does some hating, specifically compiling a short hate list of "haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict in the community."

The Bible goes on to say this about God: "Those who love violence, he hates with a passion."

Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." He also said, "I've decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." And then he was murdered by someone who picked up that hate burden.

Clearly, curbing hate is difficult. But we could do a little something to dial back the carnage it causes. Limiting the amount of shots a hater can fire without reloading would be appreciated by most victims. As is often the case in our nation's mass shootings, the hater in Orlando used a military, assault-style, semi-automatic rifle with a magazine that can hold up to 50 rounds of ammo. Generally more accurate than the automatic versions, which are used by the military but banned from civilian use since 1986, the guns are designed to kill many people as quickly as possible. Social media petitions now are pushing for bans on those guns and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Those guns and magazines that allowed more than 10 shots without reloading were outlawed in 1994, but Congress let that ban expire in 2004. America is awash in several million of these guns today. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, in a telephone news conference Monday, noted that the public, which struggles with the concept of limiting magazine size or banning guns, fully supports efforts to keep guns away from terrorists and murderous haters.

"It is far too easy for people in our country, with hatred in their hearts and agendas in their heads, to get their hands on guns," said Brady President Dan Gross.

Thoughts and prayers, love and even making it harder for people on no-fly lists and terrorist watches to buy guns might help. But, noting an ad for an assault rifle that included the tagline "Consider Your Man Card Reissued," I'd like to see us return to the idea that real men don't need high-capacity magazines and assault rifles. All our nation's old gun heroes - whether lawmen, such as Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hickock, or bad guys, such as Billy the Kid and Jesse James - made do with six-shooters.

It's ludicrous and horrifying to imagine Clint Eastwood's fictional "Dirty Harry" cop telling an unlucky punk, "I know what you're thinking. 'Did he fire 50 shots or only 49?'"

Citizens who believe that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun need some legislative help. A good guy with a concealed-carry permit can't be expected to go out for a night of dancing while carrying the weaponry needed to outshoot some hater who just bought guns and magazine clips meant for a military battlefield.