{"id":2138,"date":"2013-01-29T12:29:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-29T12:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/01\/the-flip-side-of-the-gun-debate.html"},"modified":"2013-01-29T12:29:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-29T12:29:00","slug":"the-flip-side-of-the-gun-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/01\/the-flip-side-of-the-gun-debate.html","title":{"rendered":"The flip side of the gun debate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

So here\u2019 s the story <\/a>of a man who took a picture with the family and Santa Clause loaded with supposed guns and armaments. \u00a0OK, strike one against prudence, no matter what the props actually were. \u00a0But here\u2019s the bothersome part:<\/p>\n

They [that is, the law] came to get him. Took him away in irons. Fingerprints. Jail cells. Humiliation.\u00a0<\/span>Cops confiscated the weapon. Turned out to be a BB gun. And it wasn\u2019t exactly \u201cpointed\u201d at his baby; careful examination revealed only that the baby was in \u201cclose proximity\u201d to the toy. Close enough to be arrest-worthy.\u00a0<\/span>Charge-worthy, too. They\u2019re holding him without bond on \u201cChild Endangerment.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Authorities reasoned there<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>could<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>have been a \u201csubstantial risk of physical harm.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now that\u2019s a problem. \u00a0That\u2019s why many who are gobbling up guns at gun shows are doing just that. \u00a0It\u2019s that growing trend of the\u00a0government\u00a0seizing more and more power to control more and more of our lives. \u00a0It\u2019s that segment of\u00a0the\u00a0population that would gleefully ban guns tomorrow if they could. \u00a0It\u2019s the not-too-difficult\u00a0link to establish between those yelling \u2018ban the guns\u2019 and those yelling \u2018hurrah\u00a0for the HHS mandate!\u2019 \u00a0It\u2019s realizing that those who have complained about our growing police state, our government run\u00a0amok\u00a0 and our federal law enforcement agencies overstepping bounds are right \u2013 but they\u2019re also right when it comes to this issue as well.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
As for those who spent the last ten years post-9\/11 reminding us that Ben Franklin said you have to be an idiot to\u00a0compromise\u00a0your liberty for safety, the same applies now. \u00a0Those who have dropped that quote a thousand times who now say it\u2019s time to\u00a0compromise\u00a0liberty for safety are, in some ways, the most dangerous players in\u00a0the\u00a0debate. \u00a0For it\u2019s clear they are\u00a0operating\u00a0less on reasoned approaches to the debate and more on knee jerk reactions and high strung emotionalism. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
If we really, really want to get to the heart and soul of gun violence in America, we\u2019ll look at reality, facts, stats, and all such things. \u00a0We\u2019ll discuss, talk,\u00a0question\u00a0 \u00a0We\u2019ll be honest that yes, there probably are some kooks, freaks, and dangerous people who worship guns as gods. \u00a0We\u2019ll also admit that there are others who may seem less\u00a0freakish\u00a0 or less kooky, but are every bit as dangerous as they see gun\u00a0control\u00a0and\u00a0elimination\u00a0as the first step toward a bright new future where they call the shots.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
The<\/span><\/span>\u00a0best thing is to look at what the problems are, to learn lessons from things like our reactions to 9\/11, and make sure we don\u2019t repeat past mistakes. \u00a0We certainly have no time to demonize anyone and everyone who dares question our open and friendly discussions about the topic. \u00a0If the victims of Sandy Hook, Aurora, Columbine and Virginia Tech, all the\u00a0other\u00a0mass killings, and all the other killings that go unnoticed\u00a0except\u00a0by those who are\u00a0devastated\u00a0by the losses are to be honored, it will be by finding the best solutions, not the ones we always wanted anyway, no matter what the problems happen to be.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So here\u2019 s the story of a man who took a picture with the family and Santa Clause loaded with supposed guns and armaments. \u00a0OK, strike one against prudence, no matter what the props actually were. \u00a0But here\u2019s the bothersome part: They [that is, the law] came to get him. Took him away in irons. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe flip side of the gun debate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So here' s the story of a man who took a picture with the family and Santa Clause loaded with supposed guns and armaments.  OK, strike one against\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/01\/the-flip-side-of-the-gun-debate.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The flip side of the gun 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