For whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee

Bill Geist said it best. On his Facebook page, he wondered “what is the NRA’s position on privately owned SCUD missiles and nerve gas?”

Geist, if you can’t place him, is a noted author, columnist and TV journalist for CBS. He is usually seen on the critically acclaimed program Sunday Morning on that network. He recently announced he has Parkinson’s Disease.

Speaking of Scud missiles, just the other day, Syria fired Scud-type missiles that landed precariously close to Turkey’s border. NATO decided to deploy batteries of Patriot air defense missiles along the Turkish-Syrian border in order to shoot down any that would otherwise land in Turkey.

For thousands of years, wars have begun over border disputes. Where do you draw the line. It’s mine! No, it’s mine! Do you want proof? At your next holiday dinner with family, take your glass of wine or whatever you like to drink and move it to the placemat of the person sitting next to you. Wait a moment and see the reaction. This close family member will explode in one form or another.

“What are you doing? Get that glass off my placemat! This is my space!” That little tract of land becomes their private property, even as a guest in someone else’s home.

That, my friends, is called sovereignty. What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours. Sometimes. Now, imagine this is the same type of situation between nations. One must protect its territory. If the Scud is fired in the direction of Turkey and a Patriot is deployed to destroy it, what happens if the missiles explode over Syrian territory. Is that an infringement by Turkey? After all, the engagement was in Syrian airspace.

My point actually has to do with political correctness. In order to be politically correct, the two missiles should “technically” blow up in the buffer zone between the two nations in order to not break any international rules set forth by the United Nations. It’s okay to buy and fire all sorts of missiles, but be careful with where they are used. Sadly, we’ve known for thousands upon thousands of years that we cannot trust anyone with a weapon of any kind. BOOM BOOM, BANG BANG, LIE DOWN YOUR DEAD. How many have died in battle?

Any citizen of the United States can buy a gun in the state of Florida without being required to have a firearms permit or license. A buyer will be subject to a background check with FDLE and there is a 72-hour waiting period, but once approved, you’re in. Buy the gun and take it home. This is for handguns only. For any other type gun, like rifles and shotguns, you don’t have to wait. Take them home right away! If you have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, you may be exempt from the waiting period if you buy a handgun, just like the one George Zimmerman bought. Just like the one Michael Dunn bought. 

How Adam Lanza ended up with two handguns and an assault rifle is baffling, but I would bet the farm that they were legally purchased. Twenty young, innocent school children and seven other innocents died yesterday at the hands of Lanza. In all 28, including himself. Lanza is like all the rest; cowardly. He took his own life. We will never know why he did it, but family and friends are saying he was highly unstable. Yet he had access to guns. Why? Because the NRA says so. I strongly believe in the Second Amendment — the right to bear arms. But enough is enough.

In its decision, District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. (2008), the US Supreme court affirmed the right to bear arms:

(1) The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home

Of course, in the wrong hands, there’s nothing lawful about it and, unfortunately, we never know when someone will snap, like Michael Dunn and, now, Adam Lanza. Lanza joins an exclusive club — the access of evil that shoots up malls and schools before gunning themselves down. Victims are random. Death to all is the only thing that matters. Then, take the easy way out. There is no God to answer to in their minds. In Lanza’s distorted view, he saved the world from evil. Little Hitler.

It’s time to change the laws in this great country. It’s time to make the purchases of firearms more complex, like nations buying Scud missiles and nerve gas. It’s time to limit the types of purchases. If you collect guns and you absolutely need that AK-47, then it should be mandatory to keep it under lock and key, like a fine wine or a restored 1956 Thunderbird. Guns should never be left out unless the person owning it is the only person who knows how to immediately access it. Even car insurance companies will stipulate that you are the only driver covered. No one else. Hold gun owners responsible for the actions of others. The guns belonged to his mother. If Lanza hadn’t killed her, too, she should have been held accountable. If she were alive, she should be charged with being an accessory to murder, whether she knew or not that he would do what he did. She enabled her son.

The mind of Lanza was as hollow as the bullets he probably fired. God bless the victims and their families, and all who were affected. That includes everyone from everywhere. We mourn as a nation; the civilized world cries. We’ve suffered enough at the hands of lunatics. What can we do to stop the carnage? Well, there ain’t no time to wonder why. Whoopee, we’re all gonna die!

Something must be done to end it before these words from Roger Waters and Country Joe continue to ring true. Again and again and again. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. Hallelujah!

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Below are the names of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, as released by Connecticut State Police (Name, age, date of birth, sex):

Charlotte Bacon, 6, 2/22/2006, F

Daniel Barden, 7, 9/25/2005, M

Rachel Davino, 29, 7/17/1983, F

Olivia Engel, 6, 7/18/2006, F

Josephine Gay, 7, 12/11/2005, F

Ana M Marquez-Greene, 6, 4/04/2006, F

Dylan Hockley, 6, 3/08/2006, M

Dawn Hocksprung, 47, 6/28/1965, F

Madeleine F Hsu, 6, 7/10/2006, F

Catherine V Hubbard, 6, 6/08/2006, F

Chase Kowalski, 7, 10/31/2005, M

Jesse Lewis, 6, 6/30/2006, M

James Mattioli, 6, 3/22/2006, M

Grace McDonnell, 7, 11/04/2005, F

Anne Marie Murphy, 52, 7/25/1960, F

Emilie Parker, 6, 5/12/2006, F

Jack Pinto, 6, 5/6/2006, M

Noah Pozner, 6, 11/20/2006, M

Caroline Previdi, 6, 9/7/2006, F

Jessica Rekos, 6, 5/10/2006, F

Avielle Richman, 6, 10/17/2006, F

Lauren Rousseau, 30, 6/8/1982, F

Mary Sherlach, 56, 2/11/1956, F

Victoria Soto, 27, 11/4/1985, F

Benjamin Wheeler, 6, 9/12/2006, M

Allison N Wyatt,  6, 7/3/2006, F