Does Gun Control Mean Thought Control?

DANBURY, CT - JANUARY 15: Protestors stand outside the Danbury Walmart January 15, 2013 in Danbury, Connecticut. Gun control advocates along with parents of victims and gun violence survivors joined together to urge Walmart, the nation's largest gun retailer to stop the sale of assault weapons and munitions in their stores nationwide. (Photo by Christopher Capozziello/Getty Images)

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What exactly does gun control mean?

Would the government knowing who does and does not have a gun saved anyone in any of this year’s shooting incidents? Perhaps.

But it seems that if someone wants to do someone else harm they will find a way to do it with or without a gun.

The Great Killers of Our Time

Some of the most prolific killers of our time never needed a gun to extinguish their victims. Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Gary Ridgway, and John Wayne Gacy killed their victims by stabbing or strangulation. Bundy and Ridgway are suspected of killing well over 100 victims each.

Who Decides What To Control?

Rifles, shotguns and handguns are the most commonly owned guns but there are also automatic weapons, RPG’s (Rifle Propelled Grenades), or Uzis.

Who decides what guns are okay to own and which ones are not okay? Why can’t I own a cannon?

You can certainly do just as much damage with a well placed single shot from a handgun as you can emptying the clip of an Uzi.

It would seem that the thought process of the person holding the weapon would be more important than the weapon itself.

Controlling Human Beings

Our government has decided that doing something is better than doing nothing and they are probably right. But are background checks and registration the total answer?

We register our properties and our cars, to prove ownership. But many people feel that this type of registration is just an excuse to have a list of where to go to confiscate the guns of law-abiding citizens.

Seems as though trust of our government might be a bigger problem than a list of who owns what.

Some Final Thoughts

I’ve often wondered why the phrase, “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people” is so hard for some people to understand. All the serial killers above could have just as easily shot all their victims but didn’t.

People who want to do harm to others are always going to find a way to do it. No amount of gun control, knife control, bare fist control, baseball bat control, or tidily wink control is going to be able to accomplish what’s really needed.

That’s thought control. And that’s just not possible in our current society. And hopefully it never will be.