I guess that my point is why should I, and millions of other responsible gun owners and sportsmen, be punished, penalized, or even blamed for the act of a lunatic American gunman? Why should I a legitimate and responsible gun owner be ostracized, bamboozled, and even embarrassed into thinking that my ownership of guns is somewhat “problematic” or even evil or wrong? Personally, I cannot see the moral issue with owning a gun or several guns for that matter (is there one?). A gun is a mere inanimate object made of steel, wood, and/or plastic. If left alone without human intervention, it cannot kill, maim, or threaten anyone. So why is there so much concern and fear about an inanimate object?

Blaming guns for lunatics on a shooting spree is just as illogical as blaming cars for the wrongful acts of drunk drivers. It is also as absurd as jailing the car for a reckless act of an insane driver. Much less are we justified in banning all cars or canceling all the licenses of all other drivers for the single act of a drunk driver who causes death or injury.

Guns do have their legitimate use. In fact, if not for guns, we would not have had the American Revolution or the emancipation of the slaves by the civil war. We also would be living under the yoke of Hitler or Imperial japan, if not for guns. If Filipinos did not bear arms, we would likewise be suffering to this date, as a third world colony of Spain. Or how about disarming all our private security guards who guard all our subdivisions, buildings, and businesses in the Philippines? if the police are so great and efficient, why do we even need (armed) private security guards in the first place? 

It is often argued that more regulations or laws from congress would prevent further gun violence. That has proven wrong, historically. When the dictator Ferdinand Marcos imposed a total gun ban in 1972 when he declared martial law, there were supposed to be no guns on the streets and consequently, no gun-related crimes. How wrong we were. Not only did crime not stop, but there were also a multitude of criminals with guns operating during that period – most of them in fact from the Philippine police and military. During the elections, we had a Comelec imposed total gun ban from January till June, wherein we compiled data from the said period and there were about 950 incidents of gun related violence, from election related issues or common criminals committing murder and kidnapping. And we also see that countries and places with the strictest gun laws such as Northern Ireland, New York City, Los Angeles, and Detroit, have among the highest crime and homicide rates in the world. Connecticut itself is no slouch having some of the strictest gun laws in the US, and look what happened. So much for gun regulations preventing crime and violence.

Lastly, I do have a 10 year old child, whom I love very much. And no, I will not give up my guns based on false logic that my love for him, ought to result in my surrender of my firearms because it does not follow. In fact my love for my son and my family, can be better shown by my providing them with adequate protection from criminals as a Shepherd guards his sheep. By analogy, as for the children in Sandy Hook, if only one adult was armed at that time, things would certainly have turned out very different.