We may not rule supreme in Canada when it comes to gun laws but we sure have it better than out friends south of the border as far as I'm concerned.
I usually turn on the news at least once a day to see what's happening elsewhere around the globe and three times this week, the headlines involved shootings (or attempted shootings) in the US. Each of them would be seemingly preventable if firearms weren't so readily available.
In one incident a three year old shot and killed himself when he stumbled upon a gun in the closet of a family friend who was staying at the family home as a guest. In another, a school in Atlanta, Georgia was evacuated because gun shots were heard ringing out. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but it doesn't take much to conjure up the memory of when things didn't go so well in a previous, similar incident. The third case is just plain sad - not that the loss of a tiny three year old to stupidity isn't.
On Tuesday it was reported a 22 year old Australian college baseball player (who was visiting his girlfriend in Oklahoma) was the latest victim in a random and senseless shooting that left him lifeless. What's worse, his killers were three teens who claim they were BORED so they just "decided to see what it would be like to kill somebody."
OH MY GOD.
Ages 15, 16 and 17, they awoke that day with a plan. When an unsuspecting and innocent jogger passed by they simply agreed, "there's our target." They hopped in a car and followed Christopher Lane, shot him in the back and drove off. One of the teens now claims "they shot him for the fun of it." Witnesses rushed to the scene after the shot rang out. Lane staggered a bit before collapsing face down on the ground, never to get up again.
And all because three young boys were bored and wanted to see "what it would feel like" to kill somebody.
Blame it on the gun situation, blame it on video games, a lack of guidance or proper outlets to occupy their time (I would suggest it's a combination of all of the above) - SOMETHING needs to be done to change things around. Getting guns out of the hands of impressionable and unknowledgeable children just may be a good start. It's bad enough we turn on the news to see bombings, riots and chaos abroad that there's little we can do to prevent or stop. It's terrible to think we have this much trouble brewing in our own backyards and we are taking the passengers seat to watch it all play out.
