Editorial 1: NRA uses faulty logic to explain gun-violence

The National Rifle Association, in a show of blatant disrespect
for victims of gun-facilitated crime, held a gun-owner rally to
support NRA-friendly politicians this week in Tucson, Arizona.

Earlier this week, a University of Arizona student shot and
killed three people in Tucson. And, in case Charlton Heston was
unaware, a sniper also killed about a dozen people in the
Washington, D.C. area.

NRA Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre said cancelling the
event in light of the university shootings would be equivalent to
cancelling a car convention because someone used a car to kill
people.

This example helps elucidate the fundamental flaw in logic the
NRA and its supporters continuously use as a defense.

True, anything can be used to kill. But most objects have other
purposes; a car, for example, is intended for transportation. A gun
has no other purpose than killing. Some people like to shoot deer,
but you don’t really need a semi-automatic military-like
machine gun to bring one down.

Self-defense? Well, why not have more police who can exercise
sound control over guns rather than disbursing them in greater
quantities to the public at large? It only makes things worse when
more guns are available for us to need to “defend”
against.

But as long as the NRA has politicians in its pockets,
gun-lauding will continue even in the face of cold-blooded
murder.