Guns and all things that go bang.

Having spent ten years in the 6e Régiment d'Artillerie de Campagne, I think that I have a pretty good knowledge of things that go bang. From field stripping an FN C1 to firing a 105 MM Howitzer, I've pretty much done it all, and the one thing that I can tell you is that weapons are made to kill, that is their sole purpose, always has been always will be.

I can hear the gun lobby right now. "Guns don't kill, people do." Yeah well if the killer didn't have a gun, it would be much harder for him to kill. Now I hear them say, "Well he'd use something else.". Yes I'll admit that is probably right. I can see it in my minds eye, "Ok lock and load your .... baseball bat, your knife, your ax." Let's face it, other weapons just don't have the sheer killing power of a handgun or a rifle. It would be pretty hard to have a massacre, like the Polytechnique de Montréal, Dawson College, Columbine, or Virginia Tech by using a baseball bat and a knife.

Now let us look at the classes of weapons that are available to our killer. Let's start with the handguns. What use are they? Can we go hunting with a handgun? Shoot a deer? No, a handgun is used for one purpose only, to kill human beings. Beyond 100 meters a handgun is pretty well useless. When I was in the army, I was a marksman with a 9mm Browning automatic pistol and beyond 50 meters it is almost impossible to get any accuracy. People will say, "Well I need one to protect myself"... most people are more likely to shoot themselves than hit a target. On top of that most murders that use a pistol, are by a member of the family using the family firearm.

Ok next, the rifle. Yes here I'll admit that a rifle has its uses, besides shooting innocent people. Many people love to hunt and need a rifle for that sport. (Personally I find that hunting would be much fairer if the deer and moose could shoot back.) But today people are buying semi-automatic military style assault rifles (copies of AK47's, M16's etc) Those weapons were designed to kill people. They can deliver a tremendous amount of firepower in a brief amount of time. The 7.62mm steel jacket can penetrate a brick wall, go through two people and keep on going. They were designed that way. Using one to go hunting is ridiculous. If the hunter is such a poor marksman that he can't bring down his deer with his first shot, he shouldn't be allowed in the woods. He is a menace to himself and everything else around him. (A marksman should be able to group his shots in the bullseye at 400 meters, I know it's possible because I have done it. ) Hunters should only be allowed to use a bolt action rifle with a 2 or 3 bullet magazine. My preference would be that they use a single shot bolt action with no magazine, but I only allow a second bullet in case they wound the deer. (Frankly they should get their meat at the supermarket like the rest of us but to each his own.)

The killer at Virginia Tech had two automatic pistols, a 9mm Glock and a .22 Beretta. The killer at Dawson had a .45 Magnum Pistol, a semi-automatic assault rifle and other weapons. The killer at the Polytechnique had a semi-automatic assault rifle. Those at Columbine had an arsenal to make a third world country proud. Why should those weapons even be sold? Until we as a society finally put our collective feet down and simply banish firearms, the killings will go on, in schools, public places, at home when the man of the house decides to take his family with him and anywhere else where a sick ego can aim a gun. When will it finally stop?