4 The AC Phoenix January 2013
Mental Illness Not Guns Is Real
Issue
By Raynard Jackson, NNPA Columnist
I really had not planned on writing anything
about the shooting in Newtown, Conn, because
i didn't have anything fresh or thought provok
ing to write. As I have indicated before, i can't
muster any extra sympathy for the tragic events
in Connecticut when young kids-are dying
every day in Chicago and they barely get a men
tion in the news, and definiteiy not by this White House.
The worst thing any poiitician can ever do is to legislate while caught up in a cioud
of emotion. Every time Americans have a tragedy, poiiticians and the pubiic demand
that "something" be done to prevent the same event from happening again. Here is a
truth that most of us do not want to admit: There is no current iaw or future law that
can prevent another mass shooting from occurring. Guns are not the problem, it's the
people.
If we could magically ban all guns immediately, it will have absolutely no impact on
violent crime. There are an estimated 300 million guns in the hands of Americans. So,
if guns are banned, what are you going to do about the guns already in the hands of
Americans?
These liberals who want to take the 300 million guns away from law abiding citizens
are the same ones who say it is impossible to find and remove 12 million illegals from
this country. Is it really easier to find guns than humans?
I am not taking a position either way on the issue of gun control, but I do think there
should be some sanity brought into the discussion. The National Rifle Association
(NRA) really needs to shut its mouth.They are coming across as so unreasonable and
they continue to embarrass themselves with every ridiculous statement they utter.
Liberals, including those in the White House, don't want to talk about the moral is
sues necessary to deal with all this violence. Children are growing up in single-parent
households, babies are having babies, Johnnie has two daddies, and Susie has two
mommies. We have quickly become a nation with no standards or any absolutes.
When I grew up, there was male and female. Now there is this notion of "sexual
fluidity."This is a growing notion that is sweeping across the country indicating that
your sexual preferences are constantly changing—thus is fluid. So, a male sometimes
wants to be with a woman, sometimes he wants to be with a man, and sometimes he
wants to be with both simultaneously.
We have a society that obsesses about their rights, but never mentions their respon
sibilities. Christians, especially preachers, are apologizing for their beliefs all in the
guise of wanting to be liked.
Well, you can pass all the gun control laws you want, but until you deal with the heart
of a man and the culture of a society, there can be no peace. Everyone knows that
killing is wrong, but yet we subject people to literally thousands of hours of the most
violent images from cradle to grave; and then we wonder why someone goes into a
movie theater and shoots total strangers.
You have preachers apologizing for speaking against the homosexual lifestyle and
some even remaining silent because they don't want to hurt people's feelings. Par
ents are telling their children that they are at fault when their own kid punches them
in tffe face because they took away their cell phone.
There is wrong and right; there are winners and losers. Mass shootings in Connecti
cut, Colorado or Virginia are not about gun control, but rather values. Liberal Hol
lywood puts out all kinds of violent, over the top sexually charged programs, but
claims it's just entertainment. The NRA sees no circumstance that will cause them to
compromise on their right to bear arms, not even for the good of the country.
This whole notion of universal background checks, while optically and from a PR
perspective seems very reasonable; will do nothing to prevent another mass shoot
ing. Criminals don't buy guns legally; they buy them illegally or they steal them. So,
requiring background checks will prevent very few hoodlums from obtaining guns.
Whether you want to admit it or not, 99 percent of gun purchasers are law-abiding
citizens with no mental health issues.
So, making people submit to background checks may make society feel good, but it
doesn't address the problem.
Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a Wash
ington, D.C.-based publica'elations/government affairs firm. He can be reached
through his Web site, www.raynardJackson.com. You can aiso foilow him on Twitter
at raynard1223
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