This concern about gun control is not a HUGE problem here in Canada, but it's still very important. I was first contemplating this idea when I read Giggler01 's article about the media and the bus accident. I proceeded to make a posting showing my agreement, while putting a new issue on the table. I referred to the movie "Bowling for Columbine" (which was incredible, and I encourage everyone to see it, simply because its disturbing yet informative content is vital).

Most of you know about the Columbine High School massacre. The event was so emotionally disturbing. Students brought guns into a high school and slaughtered people without care or mercy. Bombs, guns. Total chaos and torture.

I have more questions than I have answers... questions like... "If Americans have the right to bear arms, what right do they have to use those arms for murder?" Guns obviously don't have have a "right to take lives" sticker on the package, which they in my opinion might as well have, the way they're used. Because having a gun doesn't seem to be a method of "protection," it's more like "protection of other guns." Why do people need protection of those guns? Because their stupid "right to bear arms" is landing us with people without proper licensing getting their hands on guns like a pack of gum from a convenience store. It's just that easy.

In the movie "Bowling for Columbine," there are STUPID STUPID sales pitches given to customers. "Get an account, get a free rifle!" This pitch was given by a BANK. Come on people, a bank giving out guns? And they wonder why they get robbed? Some people may say, "Hunting guns are for hunting, and hand guns are strictly for the range!" That may be the idea. That's ethical. But with a gazillion people in the population, there tends to be some mishaps... right? Right!

Why is it so easy to get a gun in the United States? I feel much safer where I live; I don't have to go through a metal detector at school because "Chad" came to school one day, had enough bullying and SHOT every one dead. COME ON! THINK! Sure, it's nice to have weapons, the shape, the smell, and that loud bang it makes. But the "right" isn't so right to a person who's dead because his dad's gun was handy in the night-stand.

I myself have taken many gun safety courses and hunter safety courses. What I have learned only opens my eyes to a whole world of gun un-safety. Here, all guns MUST MUST MUST be disarmed or made unable to be used during storage and transport. However, in the States it seems that a gun is fine to be loaded in a drawer and waiting. Just because there is the right doesn't mean that it is ok to be careless about a gun being loaded.

I have seen with my own eyes the effect guns have on a living thing. It's scary. Yes. It is frightening. Yes. It is painful. Yes.

I have seen blood shed by an animal as it nears death. But I had never seen a human die. Thanks to "Bowling for Columbine," I have, and I hate it. I find myself hating America for its stupid laws and its stupid president and its stupid everything. I hate how a kid in grade two took a gun to school one day and shot and killed another girl. I hate how people massacred others with a tool which has a "right" to be there. When people sniper off kids going to school. When people sniper off a woman carrying groceries. Don't those stubborn people get the messages?

I can't blame everyone. Just the people who have the power to make a difference. The President. ANYONE who says they can be there for the people should open their eyes.

When a girl dies by getting hit by a car on a busy street, the message is clear. Put in a stop-walk. But HOW many people have been killed by handguns lately? How many? And still, all that is cared about is a "right." Well, are guns a RIGHT or a PRIVILEGE? In my opinion, they are only a PRIVILEGE and privileges get taken away when the people are proved unsuccessful with dealing with that privilege.

When I say I am disappointed with the gun laws, I really am. Come to Canada, have a beer and a hockey stick! Go to America, have a beer and a hand-gun! (Take your pick.)

Thank you.
 

P.S. I realize the intense back-lash on myself that this article may have. But I feel as if a great weight was lifted from my mind when I finished writing it. That movie greatly stirred my soul. I understand my readers may be offended by some of my material. But what was said was said, and I am open to everyone's comments, especially people who are willing to make this a dialogue and a debate instead of a screaming fight. I also realize that I myself am not American. I am just showing my feelings, the feelings of an observer, about the gun policies in the states. To fully understand my ideology, it is best just to get your parent's permission and watch the movie "Bowling for Columbine".