The section in the Declaration of Independence about "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" trumps the National Rifle Association's sacred Second Amendment, which guarantees the rights of every nut case on the streets to own guns.
How I'm sick of newscasters asking that predictable question after the kind of shootings we see so regularly: How could this have happened? How could anyone use a classroom full of 5-year-olds for target practice? The answer is simple, and it lies at the very core of our society of fear and violence.
The USA is a country with an economy based upon waging war; a country where anyone can buy all the semiautomatic weapons they desire; a land obsessed with violence, with death and destruction, with killing, with blood, guts and gore. The USA is a land where lonely, young, slightly disturbed men have a chance at being in the world spotlight simply by pulling a trigger a few times.
The folks at the NRA and Fox News and all the politicians who do their bidding will try to tell us that this is not the time to talk about gun control. I wonder when that time will come. Not at all if these purveyors of violence have their way.
The time has come - mental testing for gun owners; an end to assault weapons and handguns; registration, licensing and high taxes on all guns and ammo; restitution paid for by gun owners to the victims of their violence. Now.
John R. Hall
Kihei
