One of two furors in Washington, D.C. is the gun control battle. President Obama and the liberals want tough controls and the National Rifle Association (NRA) does agree that all future gun purchases require a background check and convicted felons be denied license to acquire any kind of gun. That's about as close they're together and there's little chance they'll get any closer.<br />
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The Obama team wants automatic assault rifles (machine guns) banned, magazine clips limited to 7 bullets with a trigger pull for each of the 7 shots.<br />
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Passing a law while public emotions are high after every such incident seldom leads to any real improvement and simply adds confusion and often conflicting statutes. <br />
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The bald truth is private ownership of guns actually saves far more than lives and gunshot wounds than gunshot deaths. While such deaths as the Colorado theater shooting and Connecticut school shooting properly attracts national attention, little media attention is given outside the immediate area where lives and injuries are saved. Countless home invasions are thwarted. Burglaries in homes and businesses are thwarted, children being attacked by vicious dogs are saved from injury, and on and on and on.<br />
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I do agree that in schools some officials should be armed. It shouldn't always be the principal because if it were armed invaders would know exactly where to go to take out the protection. However, there shouldn't be a law requiring it. If schools didn't want that potential protection they wouldn't have to maintain it.<br />
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I'll always remember longtime syndicated columnist Mike Royko, now deceased. When I was editorial page editor of The Gainesville Daily Times, Royko wrote and we published his column weekly. We carried one of his best and hilarious columns. It was about a home invasion where a man broke into the home of a widow who lived alone without being detected, undressed and going into her bedroom jumped into bed and attempted to rape her. From his behind she rammed her thumbs into his eyes, and as he yelled in pain, she somehow grabbed his testicles from behind him and clamped down on them hard, him still screaming in pain. She got him up, got her pistol from a drawer and took him to the front porch where she pushed him off buck naked and fired several times in the air as he fled.<br />
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She called the police and when they arrived they took his clothes, got his address and went to his house and arrested him.<br />
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Changing topics, Everyone is speculating on what, if anything, the Supreme Court will rule on two related but separate cases it heard recently with a ruling expected by sometime in June.<br />
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One case is whether gays in general have the fundamental constitutional right to marry and share all benefits as do married men and women. The other is more a state's rights case from California which passed a law legalizing gay marriages.<br />
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The questions the justices posed indicated some concern whether one or both the cases actually had standing. If they ruled no on either it or they would be dismissed.<br />
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I've written before I believe what individuals do in their own homes is constitutionally their basic right unless some type of warrant has been issued (growing marijuana, illegal distilling of spirits, etc.).<br />
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It they want to live as a gay couple, OK. That doesn't give them the right to file joint tax returns, inherit from the other and such. They can file separate tax returns and in their last will and testament leave their assets to the other. All that can be accomplished under existing law.<br />
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Today, gay couples have adopted children and have been good parents. I have several friends who are gay and every one of them are extremely talented and contribute much to society. I've written before what the Bible says on the subject (it existed way back in pre-Christ days) and is in the 18trh Chapter of Leviticus. In short, it says man shall not lay with man or woman with woman.<br />
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On the California state's rights case my guess is the court will leave it to the states' legislatures to pass their own laws on gay marriage if so inclined. Some like California and Massachusetts will do so, a big majority, including Georgia and all of the Bible belt, will not.<br />
