Getting home from work last night, I picked up the Newark Star Ledger during dinner. One of the front page headlines reads, "Bear arms, bear the consequences." http://www.nj.com/newark/index.ssf/2008/06/bear_arms_bear_the_consequence.html
First off, when I pick up a paper (as fewer and fewer are doing these days with the advent of the internet and 24-hour cable news) I want just that: the news. To put such a blatant opinion piece on the front page is laughable. Nevermind the fact that the story is factually and principally inaccurate. The author of this raving liberal opinion piece (Mark DiIonno) goes on to say that the right of us citizen to bear arms is "in conflict with protecting citizens." He goes on to tell two stories, one of a convicted fellon shooting his estranged wife, and the other of a girl who shot another girl with her boyfriend's gun. First off, neither of these people should have been in possession of a gun in the 1st place, one being a convicted fellon and the other "stealing" a gun. How the second amendment ruling would have had any effect on these incidents is beyond me. Both of these people were committing a crime by merely possessing these weapons.

What gets me is that this pea-brain probably lives in some high rise in Hoboken where his doorman protects him from the ills of society. He goes on to say that there should be a national gun registry, federaly regulated none the less. He calls for audits of gun makers to see how many guns are sold "legally," (all done with taxpayer money, no doubt.) What people like this guy don't get is that guns are a tool, just like a hammer or a baseball bat. Look at what has happened in the UK with their gun regulations. It's now very difficult, if not impossible to own a gun there, and what has happened? Stabbings and beatings have risen at an exponential rate. They've even gotten to the point of trying to ban kitchen knives. If someone is hell bent on committing a crime, it will happen, no matter what you ban.

The so-called "American gun culture" has not brought on this violence. What has is the sheer lazyness of our society. Parents are trying to be their children's friends, instead of their parents. Yes, parenting involved tough decisions where you often come off as mean, or unfair, but it's for the good of your children. General laziness and the inability of our society to teach life skills to it's children is to blame, not the 2nd amendment.