Leonard Gray / L’Observateur / March 13, 2000

It’s a curious fact in American society that a person goes through much more controls, red tape and regulation to drive an automobile than to acquire a firearm. The difference is, of course, that the right to bear arms is aConstitutionally-guaranteed right.

I’m personally all for a qualified, properly-trained, sane and non-violent person to have all the guns he or she feels they need, within reason.

Fortunately for this country, most gun-owners are qualified, properly- trained, sane and non-violent. And these are the people who are most vocalabout their rights.

What I have a problem with are the nutcases and criminals who stockpile arms in the belief that if the American government wants to come after them, they’re ready to put up a fight. It’s my contention, though, that if thegovernment wants our guns, they’ll take them. Period. Last I checked, theystill have the Bomb.Unfortunately, no amount of firearm regulations canprevent these rare instances.

To drive an automobile, one is practically required to pass a driver’s education course, to buy or lease a car, to pay minimal insurance, to pay fees for a license plate and a state inspection sticker, pass a driver’s test for a driver’s license and stay within the traffic laws (especially those dealing with drunken driving) to keep that ability to drive.

To legally have a firearm, one buys a gun and pays taxes. If one wants tokeep it in a car or on themselves, there may be a concealed-weapons license to get. Otherwise, that’s it.Now, let’s look at that picture. Granted, there are a lot of automobiles on theroad and certainly a sizeable percentage of those drivers have no more business behind the wheel than I do herding elephants. However, I might guessthere are many more automobile accidents and auto-related fatalities than there are firearms accidents and firearms-related fatalities.

Each can kill a person but only a firearm is specifically designed for that task. Substance abuse can certainly increase the possibility that accidentscan happen and teen-agers are certainly more at risk using either. Likelyenough, there are more drunk drivers than drunken gunmen shooting people.

Likely enough, there are more teen-agers having auto accidents than gun accidents.

Every time new regulations are suggested, the hue and cry erupts from the National Rifle Association and other responsible firearm activist groups and they are defending a basic American right.

I don’t claim to have answers, but when I see instances like a 6-year-old child shooting and killing a classmate, it does give me concern. After all, the littleboy didn’t hit the little girl with a car.

That’s the scary part – we just don’t know what to do.

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