(The following is a contributed column from Franklin County resident James Bonner, a veteran of state and local politics. He will be an occasional contributor to the FFP to share his unique, and often controversial, thoughts on politics. Your opinions and responses are welcome.)
I honestly try to avoid a first person narrative. And like a used car salesman who begins every sentence with “ I'm gonna be honest “ we both know it is a lie. But I am a gun nut.
I am forever amused by news reports that include “ the suspect had hundreds of rounds of ammunition.” Really? Hundreds? I am a lifetime NRA member, a Civilian Marksman Club member and I carry a pocket constitution all rolled up ready to poke you in the eye. I am neither schizophrenic nor suffer from incurable Cognitive dissonance, { the psychological discomfort that occurs when someone holds two contradictory ideas at the same time}, but it is time to consider banning scary guns.
We are all aware that the Mini14 is exactly the same gun as an AR 15 mechanically and functionally. If your goal is to kill five year olds it will do the job. But it's not scary.
If you are a Transgender ADHD kid that plays World of Warcraft the purpose of shooting up a school is not death and destruction. It is terror. TERROR AND NOTHING ELSE. That is what everyone seems to have missed. It is about power, and TERROR..
Make semi auto rifles pink camo with pearl handles and that wannabe terrorist would think twice about carrying it in public. 100% of our school shooters admired scary guns, were on medication and played violent video games. 100% of all of them are like spokes in a wheel. Unrequited teen angst , weapons of terror, practice practice practice on your home computer, and chemically altered states. One hundred percent.
A Bazooka is not necessarily an effective weapon against five year olds but it is banned. An obvious violation of the Second Amendment. Why? Because it is scary. Trump would still have both ears if ADHD meds and AR15s were banned.
So of the things we can ban, and short of issuing all teen boys a girlfriend, I might propose a ban on scary things. Scary movies, scary drugs, scary video games and scary words. But at the risk of being labeled a Democrat, I don’t see the problem with banning scary guns. Grandpa's 1100 wasn't scary but it would k*ll you graveyard dead if you broke into his house. So if you want to stop school shootings, stop training kids to kill. Teach them to make bombs to blow up mailboxes like we did.
P.S. Look up the meaning of satire before you shoot up my house.