Bearing arms and Consequences

It is a sad situation when a  vigilante can shoot and kill a kid  -  minding his own business after buying some skittles and an iced tea at the corner store - and get away with it.


In Canada - you shoot someone  - no matter what, you are taken into custody and at very minimum - the gun is removed from that person.  You can't just go out in your neighborhood and shoot someone, even though sometimes you might feel like it.

I am not going to get into the whole argument whether guns should or shouldn't be allowed or the stats for or against guns etc.   That's a whole argument in of itself that could go on and on with opposing sides braced for a long haul.

this is what my bf's gun looked like

I am opposed to gun possession without restrictions and people should have training and a personality test  plus a record check before being allowed to possess any firearms - and no one will change my opinion on that. 

Interestingly enough, as a high school student, skeet shooting and handgun handling was part of our recreation education curriculum.   

Sounds weird nowadays, especially in Canada, doesn't it? 

But, those were more innocent times, I guess....shortly before my friend at school was gunned down by a crazy American with a gun out in his father's orchard - along with 7 others.   The shooter is still locked up in a forensic psychiatric facility - for almost 40 years now - too insane to be released. 

Every two years he is allowed a parole hearing and my friend's family risks driving on snowy, icy mountain passes in the dead of winter every time - and live the tragedy over and over again... just to ensure he isn't released.

Ten years later, I lived  with a guy that did own a handgun - six shooter type (permit given by the RCMP after a vetting process), which by the way, was always kept under lock and key, stashed safely away at all times. 

The law in Canada states that hand guns require registration and a permit must be obtained whenever transported  even if going to the shooting range.  The permit would clearly state origin and destination.   One must take the gun to where it is going by the most direct route only - under lock and key and out of sight - no side trips to the liquor store or any such thing. 

If caught - the penalties are costly.

I must admit, we were guilty of taking  the handgun out on occasion to do target shooting in our backyard - taking aim at pop cans on yonder stump.

But, even while target practicing, I never did understand the need for a handgun.

photos from this website

Back to the idiot who just killed an unarmed kid.

Interestingly enough, a study was done at Notre Dame University, soon to be published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance*,  that suggests persons packing a gun are biased towards thinking that everyone else has a gun also.

In five experiments, subjects were shown images of people holding various neutral objects such as a can of pop or cell phone while holding either a toy gun or a neutral object such as a foam ball.  The images were all varied -  different races, with or without ski masks etc.   In every case, the study showed that holding a gun changed the subject's perception that the image shown was also was holding a gun.

“Beliefs, expectations and emotions can all influence an observer’s ability to detect and to categorize objects as guns,” Brockmole** says. “Now we know that a person’s ability to act in certain ways can bias their recognition of objects as well, and in dramatic ways. It seems that people have a hard time separating their thoughts about what they perceive and their thoughts about how they can or should act.”

As the article says, this study can have ramifications for law enforcement and public safety. 

Someone tell that to Treyvon Martin. 

If he could answer, I am sure he would say, yes, indeed, it does.

__________________________________________

*Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance

** Dr. James R. Brockmole