The recent tragedy at the Cinema 16 in Aurora Colorado brings us back to the ever so controversial and questionable policies in regards to gun control in the United States. It truly breaks my heart to read of such tragedy… lives devastated, hopes and dreams broken, families having to endure something that they never dreamed or thought possible.
I would like to state here that I am not an arms advocate or lobbyist by any means. I am torn by the issue and I could say that I am in the middle road when it comes to the right to bare arms. I live in Italy where there does exist a pretty rigid control on arms and laws that do not allow the citizens to protect themselves to the point that should you attempt to do so, you would most likely be charged yourself with a crime. The law of the land goes on to protect the aggressor rather than the actual victim, and I am most certainly not in agreement with this. It is so much so here that Italy has become known as “the garden of delinquency” and people come from other states to engage in lawless activities, and sad to say they get away with it most of the time with little more than a “slap on the hand”.
I am however in total disagreement to the fact that assault rifles are legally obtainable as they most certainly do not fall into the category of a hunting rifle or a hand gun for self-defense. But at the end of the day, when all has been said and done, it was not the gun that shot these innocent people, it was a person who used the gun to kill. People kill people, persons who have allowed themselves to be emotionally influenced be it by drugs, by jealousies, by hatred, by not being able to cope with their own reality.
We have so very many things that we could debate and say are the culprit to this type of incident, and of course the issue that comes out each and every time is “where was God in all of this”. As I have stated in a previous post, God is not here to make decisions for us, He has given us the majesty of choice, and it is totally up to us to do good, bad, or to be indifferent and then we will find ourselves living with the circumstances.
What comes to me once again is the importance of guarding my mind and keeping myself in subjection. We are so self-righteous when we pride ourselves in the fact that we live in the “free-world”. Well, the free world has its down side too. The free world is full of people, people who are all vulnerable to falling to temptation, to hate, to jealousy, to bitterness, to violence and yes sad to say to total insanity which is capable to causing grief to an entire community such as Aurora, Colorado.
When we see our brother sister, son, daughter, friend or anyone for that matter goes through something that could cause them to go off the deep end in their lives, and we do nothing to help, and by help I include seeking professional help, and even in some cases legal action, we too are then just as guilty as the one who pulls the trigger! There is a saying that goes, evil abounds when good men do nothing! Once something happens such as did with of James Holmes, everyone is out to try to play the blame-game. James Holmes most sadly made some very bad choices. James Holmes personally allowed himself to be influenced in one way or the other by an illness or harboring hatred or some things that led to him losing his mind.
I’ll end this by saying that my heart goes out to each and everyone who was hurt by his actions, by his decision and I pray that justice will be swift and will not drag on and cause further pain. And I will urge you who read this to guard your mind! We are all susceptible to evil, it is your choice to give in, or resist!
