Well I am sure everyone knows by now that there was a horrific massacre in Connecticut yesterday. Twenty children were killed, some as young as kindergarten and none older than fourth grade, along with six adults, and the murderer himself. This is an unspeakable tragedy only made worse because of the ages of the victims. A total of twenty-seven people were killed for as far as I am concerned, no reason at all. As of now, no one knows why the killer went on a rampage at an elementary school. He killed his mother first, and then headed towards the school, so as of now the massacre is completely unexplainable.

I am sure in the weeks to come, if not already, there will be an outcry for gun control and gun law lobbyists will take complete advantage of this situation for their cause. Not that they don’t have a valid point, but I have to quote a friend of mine who said it perfectly.

“People are so very quick to blame an inanimate weapon for tragedy instead of the human being wielding it. Stop absolving these monsters of their guilt by blaming it on the guns they carried. It makes me ill.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. I am not anti-gun and I am not a card-carrying NRA member. I am ambivalent when it comes to guns. I have fired guns before, its fun to go to the range and shoot some targets, I understand the hunting and personal protection issues but this is certainly not a cause that I am constantly thinking about.

“But Sal you should be?! Its your Constitutional right?!”

Absolutely, it is my constitutional right to bear arms. That is why I am not anti-gun. I believe that people should be able to purchase weapons for personal protection, hunting, and recreation, but I believe that legislation needs to be made based on where you live. Not even at just state level, but gun laws based on local legislation. It just makes sense especially for states like New York or any state (all 50) that has densely populated areas. My favorite example is New York, I am for strict gun control in New York City, but upstate New York and Long Island, reasonable gun control is completely sufficient. Having to commute to work everyday, if I was allowed to buy and carry a gun on me I would have killed someone on the seven train or on the platform, it’s just that simple, and I like to think I am a normal and sane person.

This is all completely insignificant. Regardless of your opinions about guns, regulations, and laws, the bottom line is, twenty innocent children are dead, six adults, and the murderer, in spite of his actions is a victim. When people discuss gun control laws after events like this, it always infuriates me, because it takes the conversation and spotlight away from the victims and turns it on “an inanimate weapon”. On a certain level it takes the blame away from the person who wielded the weapon that took the lives away from people who had so much left in life to experience.

A gun is a tool, like any tool it needs to be respected. Like any tool it has a purpose, and it might not have any other use but to kill or maim, but if and when you need to use a gun, it might just save your life. My final point is this, blame the murderer, who killed twenty children and six innocent adults, for no reason at all. As far as I am concerned any future explanation is insufficient. It is a slap in the face to all of the people who died to blame the weapon instead of blaming the person, blame the shooter not the gun.