I can't begin to understand the mentality of the NRA; they seem deranged. The idea that guns should be sold to people who are on a terrorist watch list is ludicrous, and what happened to aiding and abetting the enemy? Is treason no longer against the law? I've often thought that the gun dealers near our southern should be brought up on charges of treason for selling assault weapons to Mexican drug cartels
This latest idea of theirs that people between 18 and 21 should be able to buy handguns legally almost sounds like someone's idea of a sick joke. At least they won't be under the influence of alcohol since they are too young to legally drink. wink wink
It's obvious that too many Americans of all ages are unable to handle the responsibility of gun ownership. There are countries where there is more gun ownership per capita than in the U.S., but there isn't nearly the incidence of gun-related crime. I think living in this country is more stressful than many other places with our myths of rugged individualism and dog-eat-dog ethos. We claim to be a Christian country, but there is such a culture of consumerism and trying to keep up with the rich, people lose track of what counts in life. Our country was founded by violence and the wiping out of native peoples so we could have what we thought white people were entitled to, and that mentality hasn't left us. Our legacy of slavery and racism has left scars that produce violence by people who feel that they are left out of mainstream America, and has produced a culture of self-hatred among a number of people that causes them to use violence against their own.
Until we change our national psyche and start to have more respect for real values and ethics, we will always have gun violence. In the meantime however, we don't have to make handgun ownership easier, and the idea that assault rifle are legal has got to go. I grew up in Pennsylvania, where there are more guns per capita than any other state and the opening of hunting season is practically a holiday, but hunters don't need handguns and assault rifles.