Let me begin by asserting my feelings about our president’s remarks following the mass murder in Uvalde, Texas. I was appalled as I listened to President Biden as he spoke on the evening of still another senseless mass murder against those unsuspecting children and adults. His message was a blatant politicization of a horrific display of evil. After a few brief remarks about the victims, he then went on what I would describe as a tirade about gun control. There is a time and place for discussions about such things as that but consoling the families of those children and adults whose lives were senselessly cut short was not that time.

Every time there is another mass murder, we hear them once again as the talking heads begin to make their political pitches for stricter laws pertaining to firearms. The outcry of those who are for gun reform focuses on the theory that guns kill people. And, we have all heard the response to that outcry: guns don’t kill people; people kill people. This is an irrefutable truth.

I have many friends and acquaintances who own firearms. I don’t know very many individuals who don’t own some type of firearm. And not one of them has ever used their firearms to take another person’s life. Not one.

The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of persons who own firearms are law-abiding citizens. The fact that they own a firearm does not mean that they are secretly harboring thoughts of murder and mayhem and are only waiting for the perfect time to carry out their evil deed. Some own firearms for the purpose of hunting, while others use theirs in competitive shooting. Many have purchased firearms for self-protection. These, and so many others, are reasons for owning firearms.

I am a firm believer in and a strong advocate of the second amendment. Granted, there are many different possible interpretations of the initial intent of the amendment, and perhaps that should be part of the forthcoming discussions about how to protect unqualified gun-owners from purchasing firearms. There is no question about the fact that changes to current gun ownership laws should be made.

However, having said that, it bears stating once again that guns don’t kill people. People kill people. Stricter background checks are needed; longer wait times to purchase a firearm are needed; mandatory safe firearm classes should be required. These and many other safeguards could be built into the system.

But the fact of the matter is that if someone wants to get a firearm for the purpose of killing an individual, or committing mass murder, they are going to get it. They are not going through the proper channels to purchase a firearm to begin with. They are going to purchase firearms illegally.

Taking the guns of law-abiding citizens is not the answer. I hope that we see open and serious discussion on what can be done to keep firearms out of the hands of those who would use them to do harm, while at the same time protecting the rights of honest, law-abiding citizens to own firearms.