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The illusory protections of gun control
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
The illusory protections of gun control
04/30/02
There are certain lessons in murder that cannot be ignored. Namely this:
Once a committed individual, group or nation decides that murder is an objective worth pursuing, then taking a life is only a little more difficult than taking a breath.
Germany today grieves the loss of its blissful post-war ignorance. It is coming to grips with the painful realization that its domestic security was an illusion based on the false assumption that "American-style" violence could be averted by strict gun control.
The illusion is gone. A powerful nation's vulnerability was dramatically exposed by the violent actions of a disaffected 19-year-old man. Last Friday morning, Robert Steinhauser, expelled from his high school for several weeks, returned to the school with a shotgun and a sidearm. And he went hunting for adults.
Shortly after 11 a.m., he commenced a 10-minute massacre that instantly changed Germany's sense of itself. Steinhauser shot 13 teachers, two students and a police officer before pulling the trigger on himself. In the end, Steinhauser managed to kill more people than the gunmen at Columbine High School.
As a result, those in Germany, along with many in Europe, are wondering how such violent behavior managed to fester undetected for so long.
"So-called 'American conditions' have reached us. We cannot let these excesses of violence become a part of our daily life," said Konrad Freiberg, the head of Germany's police union.
"This is so unique that it exceeds one's powers of imagination," echoed Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. "I think we all need time to work this through in our minds. There are questions here that we have to answer as a whole society."
One can only wonder if, in the quest to answer those questions, Germany will enforce a more repressive and counterproductive crackdown on gun ownership than has been seen in modern history. On the day of the massacre, parliament coincidentally approved a measure to further tighten weapons laws. Even before that, Germany was home to some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world.
Such a move will scarcely make Germany safer internally or prevent the type of violence that occurred last week. About 2.3 million Germans have the right to own guns for sporting purposes. Steinhauser reportedly was not one of them. His guns were obtained and stored illegally.
So what lessons does the young German present to us as the gun-control debate continues unabated in America and abroad?
The availability of guns does not initiate a massacre. The massacre is initiated by intent. In a land with strict gun control, a teenager obtained powerful weapons and went on a school rampage that resulted in more casualties than any American school has ever experienced.
This is not meant to suggest that American or German teachers should be sent to the classroom armed with lesson plans and handguns. But it is meant to suggest that small-arms control serves mostly to disenfranchise those inclined to obey the law or to defend life.
History teacher Rainer Heise, who reportedly locked Steinhauser in an empty classroom, effectively ending the massacre, said the killer uttered these words before the door slammed shut:
"That's enough for today, Mr. Heise."
Germany will probably find that chilling statement to be prophetic. An illusionary security door has now been blown wide-open.
Morris is an associate editor of The Plain Dealer's editorial pages.
Contact Phillip Morris at:
pfmorris@plaind.com, 216-999-4070
http://forums.gunbroker.com/post.asp?method=Topic&FORUM_ID=4&CAT_ID=1&Forum_Title=General+Discussion
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
04/30/02
There are certain lessons in murder that cannot be ignored. Namely this:
Once a committed individual, group or nation decides that murder is an objective worth pursuing, then taking a life is only a little more difficult than taking a breath.
Germany today grieves the loss of its blissful post-war ignorance. It is coming to grips with the painful realization that its domestic security was an illusion based on the false assumption that "American-style" violence could be averted by strict gun control.
The illusion is gone. A powerful nation's vulnerability was dramatically exposed by the violent actions of a disaffected 19-year-old man. Last Friday morning, Robert Steinhauser, expelled from his high school for several weeks, returned to the school with a shotgun and a sidearm. And he went hunting for adults.
Shortly after 11 a.m., he commenced a 10-minute massacre that instantly changed Germany's sense of itself. Steinhauser shot 13 teachers, two students and a police officer before pulling the trigger on himself. In the end, Steinhauser managed to kill more people than the gunmen at Columbine High School.
As a result, those in Germany, along with many in Europe, are wondering how such violent behavior managed to fester undetected for so long.
"So-called 'American conditions' have reached us. We cannot let these excesses of violence become a part of our daily life," said Konrad Freiberg, the head of Germany's police union.
"This is so unique that it exceeds one's powers of imagination," echoed Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. "I think we all need time to work this through in our minds. There are questions here that we have to answer as a whole society."
One can only wonder if, in the quest to answer those questions, Germany will enforce a more repressive and counterproductive crackdown on gun ownership than has been seen in modern history. On the day of the massacre, parliament coincidentally approved a measure to further tighten weapons laws. Even before that, Germany was home to some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world.
Such a move will scarcely make Germany safer internally or prevent the type of violence that occurred last week. About 2.3 million Germans have the right to own guns for sporting purposes. Steinhauser reportedly was not one of them. His guns were obtained and stored illegally.
So what lessons does the young German present to us as the gun-control debate continues unabated in America and abroad?
The availability of guns does not initiate a massacre. The massacre is initiated by intent. In a land with strict gun control, a teenager obtained powerful weapons and went on a school rampage that resulted in more casualties than any American school has ever experienced.
This is not meant to suggest that American or German teachers should be sent to the classroom armed with lesson plans and handguns. But it is meant to suggest that small-arms control serves mostly to disenfranchise those inclined to obey the law or to defend life.
History teacher Rainer Heise, who reportedly locked Steinhauser in an empty classroom, effectively ending the massacre, said the killer uttered these words before the door slammed shut:
"That's enough for today, Mr. Heise."
Germany will probably find that chilling statement to be prophetic. An illusionary security door has now been blown wide-open.
Morris is an associate editor of The Plain Dealer's editorial pages.
Contact Phillip Morris at:
pfmorris@plaind.com, 216-999-4070
http://forums.gunbroker.com/post.asp?method=Topic&FORUM_ID=4&CAT_ID=1&Forum_Title=General+Discussion
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
04/30/02
There are certain lessons in murder that cannot be ignored. Namely this:
Once a committed individual, group or nation decides that murder is an objective worth pursuing, then taking a life is only a little more difficult than taking a breath.
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Germany today grieves the loss of its blissful post-war ignorance. It is coming to grips with the painful realization that its domestic security was an illusion based on the false assumption that "American-style" violence could be averted by strict gun control.
The illusion is gone. A powerful nation's vulnerability was dramatically exposed by the violent actions of a disaffected 19-year-old man. Last Friday morning, Robert Steinhauser, expelled from his high school for several weeks, returned to the school with a shotgun and a sidearm. And he went hunting for adults.
Shortly after 11 a.m., he commenced a 10-minute massacre that instantly changed Germany's sense of itself. Steinhauser shot 13 teachers, two students and a police officer before pulling the trigger on himself. In the end, Steinhauser managed to kill more people than the gunmen at Columbine High School.
As a result, those in Germany, along with many in Europe, are wondering how such violent behavior managed to fester undetected for so long.
"So-called 'American conditions' have reached us. We cannot let these excesses of violence become a part of our daily life," said Konrad Freiberg, the head of Germany's police union.
"This is so unique that it exceeds one's powers of imagination," echoed Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. "I think we all need time to work this through in our minds. There are questions here that we have to answer as a whole society."
One can only wonder if, in the quest to answer those questions, Germany will enforce a more repressive and counterproductive crackdown on gun ownership than has been seen in modern history. On the day of the massacre, parliament coincidentally approved a measure to further tighten weapons laws. Even before that, Germany was home to some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world.
Such a move will scarcely make Germany safer internally or prevent the type of violence that occurred last week. About 2.3 million Germans have the right to own guns for sporting purposes. Steinhauser reportedly was not one of them. His guns were obtained and stored illegally.
So what lessons does the young German present to us as the gun-control debate continues unabated in America and abroad?
The availability of guns does not initiate a massacre. The massacre is initiated by intent. In a land with strict gun control, a teenager obtained powerful weapons and went on a school rampage that resulted in more casualties than any American school has ever experienced.
This is not meant to suggest that American or German teachers should be sent to the classroom armed with lesson plans and handguns. But it is meant to suggest that small-arms control serves mostly to disenfranchise those inclined to obey the law or to defend life.
History teacher Rainer Heise, who reportedly locked Steinhauser in an empty classroom, effectively ending the massacre, said the killer uttered these words before the door slammed shut:
"That's enough for today, Mr. Heise."
Germany will probably find that chilling statement to be prophetic. An illusionary security door has now been blown wide-open.
Morris is an associate editor of The Plain Dealer's editorial pages.
Contact Phillip Morris at:
pfmorris@plaind.com, 216-999-4070
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/phillip_morris/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/opinion/102015926323507129.xml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878