Schieffer: Put Guns On A Shelf
If you had a two-year-old, what would you do about such things as prescription drugs, drain cleaner, kitchen knives and other household necessities that pose a danger to our children?
You wouldn't stop buying them, you'd just put them out of reach on a higher shelf.
And what would do you when that child got old enough to drive? Say no, and sell the family car?
No, most parents would teach the child to drive and would not think twice about the law requiring a driver's license. Just common sense.
Which makes me wonder why we refuse to take the same common sense approach when it comes to dealing with guns.
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Fort Worth is where I grew up, so for me the tragedy hit home literally, and afterwar I found myself asking the same questions as you: What could possibly cause a person to do such a thing?
They're the wrong questions, of course; the actions of the deranged by definition do not make sense.
The harder question is why was it so easy for a deranged man to arm himself with lethal weapons? Had he walked in with a tire tool or even an ax most of those people would not be dead.
It is not a question of taking guns from sportsmen or legitimate gun owners, as the professional gun lobbyists would have you believe. But in a nation of 270 million people, there is a small percentage which is a sizable group who are mentally disturbed. That's only natural. In light of that, should we not be as careful about who owns a gun as we are about who owns and drives a car?
We wouldn't question for a moment putting rat poison beyond the reach of a two-year-old. Why is it so hard for us to put guns on a higher shelf?