I was sitting at the old Wing Joint on Battleground Sunday evening watching the Niners/Patsies game, when about 6 minutes into the 1st quarter, NBC cut away from the game and aired a speech by our freshly reelected leader, Barack Hussein Obama. I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I had no idea why Barry was making a prime time speech. Luckily for me, Goose was sitting to my left and explained that there was some kind of school shooting that had happened Friday morning in Connecticut and that Barry was probably talking about it. I did wonder how almost 60 hours had passed from when this school shooting occurred until I heard about it (I chalk it up to 2 Christmas parties, college bowl games, college hoops, and Sunday Ticket holding my attention). Anyway, the sound coming from the TV's behind the bar at Wing Joint weren't turned up very loud. So, I was having trouble hearing what Barry was saying about this school shooting. It doesn't really matter what he said, I realize that. Barry, it turns out, does not have the messiah-like power to undo the killing of school kids. But I was a little taken aback when hearing this news, nonetheless. I decided to look into this school shooting and after doing so the last couple days, I've come away with the same thoughts as after every one of these shootings since Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold went on their spree back on Hitler's 110th birthday in 1999. The liberals immediately call for the banning of guns and the right wingers wring their hands about God being taken out of public schools. Blah, blah, blah.

I don't want a gun. I've never had any desire to touch a gun in my life. I've had a gun pointed at my head before though (alas, more than once...). While I have no interest in delving into the specifics of those events, I will say this - it's not such a great feeling when someone is pointing a gun at your head. I wouldn't suggest getting yourself into that situation if you can avoid it. So, I'm no gun nut. And if you really think that banning guns is the right reaction to this shooting, or any of the dozens of other shootings over the years, I can sympathize with the thought. There's a big problem with this idea though. The problem is that there are around 300 million guns floating around the United States. Those guns are private property. The question that all the gun banners have to figure out is this - how would you suggest the federal government go about getting rid of 300 million pieces of private property? That's where things get a little problematic, don't they? The articles you read about banning guns tend to not mention the messy process that would inevitably ensue if all guns were indeed banned by the federal government. Can you picture federal agents going door to door across the country, tearing up every nook of every home, in an attempt to find all 300 million guns? It's an idea reminiscent of Stalinist Russia - and that's not good. Our current leader, Barack Hussein Obama, famously mentioned back in 2008 that many Americans were clinging to guns and religion as crutches in their pitiful lives. He may be right. I have no idea. But if it's true that many tens of millions of Americans are clinging to their guns, don't you think those folks might put up some kind of fight when the federal government swings by the house to seize their private property?

After reading a little about the particular shooter in this particular school shooting, one Adam Lanza, the first thing that struck me was how he looked strikingly similar to the aforementioned Eric Harris. As far as the rest of his story, some of it is predictable - painfully shy, loved violent video games, didn't seem to have many friends, etc. But one part of this story as opposed to the other school shooters is different. Adam Lanza was the son of a millionaire executive who lived in an extremely affluent part of the country. A part of the country where elite liberals flourish. The media will no doubt paint this kid's mom to be a nut over the coming days and weeks. They'll have to blame her for this kid's actions. Because the folks who hang out in the swanky areas of the country like Newtown, CT won't be able to fathom that their picture perfect progressive community might have in any way helped shape whom young Mr Lanza became. When school shootings happen in Blacksburg, VA or Kentucky or Colorado, eastern elitists can pass it off with a dismissiveness similar to the comment Barry made about the losers in the rest of America who cling to their guns. We're all rubes and whatnot in many of these folks' eyes. But this time it's happened right in one of their own strongholds. They can't just shrug it off by saying, "You know those barbarians in _____? What can you do about them?" That line of thought doesn't wash in this case, unless you paint this kid's mother as a wacko way out of the norm for the cozy confines of suburban Connecticut. And that's what will happen.

A few years ago, when that Uncle Fester looking kid broke bad out in Arizona and tried to kill Gabrielle Giffords and did kill a number of bystanders at a local political rally, many folks suggested that more needs to  be done for the mentally disturbed in our society. I mentioned at the time, that while a nice thought (somewhat like this gun banning idea), it's very problematic when you try and put it in practice. Was Adam Lanza deranged? It's very likely, yes. But what should be done with young folks who some view as mentally ill? Should the government take them somewhere so there's no chance they'll hurt anyone? Should the government do this even if said person has no arrest record and been no threat to anyone in their life? Again this whole idea smacks of stuff that was done in Stalinist Russia or Orwellian novels. It's a very slippery slope.

As far as the 20 little kids who were killed by Mr Lanza, I was reminded again of one of the many reasons I have never had any interest in being a parent. Within seconds of hearing the news that your 5 or 6 year old had been murdered, there would be absolutely no reason to go on in life. None that I can think of.

I'll get back to the normal silliness next time.