Ahead of His Time

Lance Armstrong interview with Oprah (17-Jan-2013)

Tiger Scandal Breaks (25-Nov-2009)

George Carlin Dies (22-Jun-2008)

Bad Guns and Big Pharma

The problem with that position is:  folks who have those kinds of weapons (and who site the 2nd amendment as the /reason/ they have those kinds of weapons) -- they honestly and firmly believe it's to protect against the possibility (however extreme) that they may one day have to use them to protect themselves, their home and family against the authorities who have them too.

Folks opposed can say something along the lines of: "Well that will /never/ happen; it's just paranoid delusion" -or- "If that ever occurs, we'll have much greater problems to worry about". But those arguments have the exact opposite effect. They do nothing to assuage the concerns -- concerns that *precisely* go back to the intent of the founders who created the second amendment.

The only possible shot at a real solution to this problem is not to ban certain guns, but (like anti-smoking campaigns) to:

1) Change the attitudes of many of the folks who would carry them, have a legitimate right to do so, and feel afraid

2) Understand and interdict for the folks who carry them or acquire them and are not mentally able to properly wield them**

It's a very long game. It will take generations (with, unfortunately, many casualties along the way). And, in the end, such an approach will /not/ get rid of all the "bad guns" completely.

I dare say, this "hearts and minds" approach will require more patience than folks like McChrystal are willing to stomach. I honestly believe that any other strategy is not only doomed to fail, but likely to exacerbate the very circumstances we find ourselves in today.

** on a side note: I believe we will come to discover that most, if not all, of the mass shootings that have so horrified the nation have been perpetrated by someone under the influence of serotonin reuptake inhibitors. I am not saying these drugs should be banned, but they are easily misused. I do believe that our society is all too quick to turn to big pharma for a pill that will solve all problems. Our so-called health-"care" system is all too quick to turn to them (and our health insurance system all to quick to pay for them). It's a viscous cycle that really needs to be examined and likely a greater cause of these mass tragedies than the pervasiveness of "bad guns".