The second amendment to the Constitution states: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Saturday's Arizona mass murder that claimed at least six lives and the near-fatal shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is yet another stark reminder of how violent a society we Americans live in.
It's easy, isn't it: Just repeal the right to bear arms and the deadly violence will dissipate. Right? Wrong.
Man will always find a way to murder his brother when a darkened heart is at hand and evil lurks. The events of 9/11 showed us that. No guns were involved. Just terrorists armed with box cutters aboard airplanes that were used as missiles.
Guns have been a part of America's culture and heritage since colonial times and the American Revolution. Assassins have killed four American presidents, from Lincoln to Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy. President Reagan was nearly assassinated and not one but two gunmen targeted President Ford. Gun assassins killed Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. And we can't forget the gunshot slaying of John Lennon or the assassinations of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife, a precursor to World War I.
Murder has been with mankind since the beginning of time, i.e., as illustrated in the Book of Genesis with Cain killing Abel. There's certainly countless other examples of bloodshed for those who dismiss the biblical story as just that, a story.
It's not simply the act of shooting a gun that kills, but the reasoning behind pulling the trigger of the person firing it. The act of killing another human being and the reasons behind go back to the beginning of time, too: Greed, envy, adultery, conquest of lands and people by governments and politics, mental illness, insanity.
There are those who say "guns kill" while others counter "people kill."
A gun or firearm is simply a tool to warn, injure maim or kill. Some say guns belong only in the hands of the military and the police. Anti-gun advocates argue the second amendment is intended solely to allow the states to operate militias and not literally individuals.
It's true. Guns do kill people. And they are too easily accessible. And people kill people, with or without guns. Because of the sheer speed of a bullet and the precision of a target, an assassin can do a lot of damage quickly as was the case with the young gunman in Arizona.
Violence is nothing new and remains as shocking now as the shootout at the O.K. Corral in the late 1800s that ironically took place in what was then the territory of Arizona. Guns are glamorized in our culture, from warfare to television shows.
We have plenty of examples of gun violence close to home: Serial killer Aileen Wuornos comes to mind, probably because I covered her post-conviction appeals and her execution. This New Year's killing outside the Ormond Beach bar where a man was shot and killed while with the wife of an estranged husband, accused of opening fire, is another example of gun violence.
Bad people, evil people, are always going to find a way to get guns, just like drug dealers find a way to get drugs.
It's true: Guns kill, but they also save lives. Our society, and the legal community, recognize the need to protect ourselves from those who would hurt or kill us, from those who would invade our homes.
Criminals could care less about the Constitution or the second amendment. They could care less about licenses and permits.
Let's be real here: If you break into my home or try to do harm to me, my wife or my child, I will shoot you with the intention of killing you. Period.
The sanctity of our lives is too precious to take a chance on simply trying to retreat or talk a harmful offender out of doing what was intended in the first place: To take, and if necessary, to injure or kill.
How many of the six lost lives in Arizona could have been saved had a private citizen with a concealed weapon been there on the spot and killed him?
Just a few weeks back, a deranged Florida man opened fire at a school board meeting, before he was shot and killed by a security guard.
There are countless examples of gun violence that have people divided over the right to bear arms. It's just one of those open ended debates that will always divide us along political, moral and religious grounds.