Ever since the terrorist attack on the nightclub in Orlando yesterday morning, I have seen countless people calling for more gun control, some famous, many not. I have even seen some (very few) gun folks suggesting that we need to do something different “in order to prevent these things from occurring.” Hell, the freaking President of the United States addressed the nation, and while refusing to call this act what it very clearly was, an Islamic terrorist attack, he instead chose to push his favorite agenda, gun control.
Folks, WAKE THE HELL UP!!!!
This is not a gun issue, it is a terrorist issue! It is a criminal issue. It is an evil issue. Trying to use this incident as supporting evidence that something needs to be done about guns is asinine. Guns are far more strictly controlled in France, yet that did not stop the terrorists in Paris. Guns are very strictly controlled in California, but that did not prevent terrorist in San Bernardino. The solution is not to be found in gun control.
You, we, have to stop expecting every incident to be prevented. That is absolutely impossible. Terrorists and criminals will always find a way to get a gun if it is a gun they want. Hell, it does not take a rocket scientist to build one from scratch. Explosives are illegal, yet the Federal Building in Oklahoma City was destroyed by a man who got it in his mind that he needed to destroy it. There were multiple attempts, with illegal bombs, to take down the Twin Towers, but those thankfully failed.
We do everything we can to prevent house fires, but we all accept the fact that they cannot all be prevented, which is why we have fire stations located all over, and why we keep fire extinguishers handy. We try to prevent them, but we know they may still happen so we are prepared in case they do.
Cars come equipped with seat belts, crumple zones and airbags, all installed in case of an accident. Some newer cars include all sorts of computerized accident avoidance systems that will take control of your car to try and prevent a collision. Supposedly, some of those systems are very good at what they do. BUT cars with those systems still have seat belts, crumple zones and airbags. Why? Because the manufacturers and the department of transportation both know that while they can reduce the number of collisions, they cannot prevent them all.
Sometimes, to quote the famous shirt and bumper sticker, no matter what we do to prevent it, shit happens.
House fires are accidents. Traffic collisions are accidents. Terrorist and criminal attacks, those are intentional, carried out by unscrupulous, evil people who have a plan and want to avoid detection until the moment that they want attention. We try to do what we can to prevent those individuals from carrying out their evil deeds, and we are fairly successful in doing so, but sadly some slip by.
There is absolutely no way to prevent all bad things from happening. The sooner people learn to accept that fact, the sooner we can all start having the conversation that needs to be had, how to deal with those bad events when they do occur.