Stop blaming guns for societal problems

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I often read opinion pieces advocating these unconstitutional laws, but I rarely see opposing opinions. I would like to offer a contrary opinion for the Illinois Community Protection Bill.

We’ve all seen the opinion pieces advocating this, and all for the same reasons. Children must be protected, always the same lines. Those who essentially seek to disarm the masses in order to feel safer do just the opposite. We have seen many times where firearms have been used to protect people, but they rarely get media attention. We also tend to forget that criminals, by definition, do not obey the law. Thus, a new law will only disarm law-abiding citizens.

We hear hot slogans like assault rifle, high capacity magazine, military grade and few people seem to understand what it means. No politician can tell you what an assault weapon is, because it’s a made up term. If they refer to it by the looks of something, I can put the same parts on a nail gun used to build houses. Does that make it a weapon of war? Because it looks the same? And how about many other items that are weapons of war? Knives? jeeps? Boats? Pens? Computers? Planes? The army uses all of this. And all of them have more blood on them than civilian AR-15s.

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A high capacity magazine is another coined term. A 30 round magazine is a standard capacity for most rifles. Guns can range from seven to 17, for standard capacity. None of these are large capacity.

Moving on to the term military grade, which simply means that it meets the minimum standard for the cheapest price. Military rank is not a standard by which to judge quality or ability.

We see startling numbers of gun deaths every year. But information from places such as Pew Research and the FBI shows that of the 40,000 annual deaths, more than half are from self-inflicted gunshots. Suicide is a mental health issue. If these same people were using their car and driving in front of a tractor-trailer, would we seek to ban the cars? Or semi-trailers? We would seek to help those in need in times of great turmoil. So why do we blame guns for suicide?

Of course, more can be done to protect lives from gun violence, but the answer is not to take the guns away. Apply the thousands of laws currently in force. Stop letting violent criminals go so easily. Imposing harsher penalties. Make criminals fear jail instead of seeing it as a stepping stone or minor obstacle. Help our young people get off the streets and out of gang life. Help the poor get ahead so that crime is not so attractive. Help people in mental distress. Fix the family court system so that men aren’t so broken down that they think suicide is better than being seen as failures for their children while a vengeful ex bleeds him dry.

Look around you at what society has become and try to solve the problems. Don’t blame an inanimate object. Criminals will always be criminals, people will always hurt each other. Suicides will continue to occur. Let’s address the real issues and stop looking for scapegoats.

Jason Hartel, Naperville

Kevin McCarthy’s victory is a last hurray

I couldn’t help but notice the irony of voting for Speaker of the House in 15 full rounds. It was reminiscent of The Thrilla in Manila between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1975. Ali and Frazier had gone 14 brutal rounds in the sweltering Philippine heat before Fraziers’ coach mercifully signaled the end of things before the final round.

It’s a shame there wasn’t anyone to call it out for Kevin McCarthy before his final lap. The Thrilla in Manila was the last hurray for both fighters, and despite Alis winning, he was a shadow of his former self. Despite McCarthy’s victory, an already weak man was so bloodied that unlike Ali, he will never live to fight another day.

Tom Scorby, St. Charles

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