"A shoot-out is better than a massacre!"

The gun control debate in the United States is flabbergasting - how 20 children and 6 adults can be gunned down and people come out in support of the weapon used, AND they call for more of them to be introduced to the society they are destroying is a question I can't answer.

So I'm not going to get up on my soapbox and pass judgement,  I'm going to be fair to both sides and let them present their own arguments in an old-fashioned shootout. So hock your tobacco into your spitoon, throw your peanut shells on the floor, tie your horse up out the front of the saloon, and sit back and watch how arguments between gentlemen should be settled.

Pro gun lobbiests (PG) will be using a rapid fire assault rifle with a laser sight, telescopic scope and high capacity magazine clip, while pro reformists (PR) will be using a small pistol. They will both now take ten paces, turn, and fire:

(PR) "Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying - too many children."

(PG) "A shoot-out is better than a massacre!"

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(PG) "Those who deny me the freedom to carry a firearm with which to protect my family and myself, are as complicit and guilty as the perpetrator should we be harmed or murdered by an act of violence."

(PR) "We (US Democratic Party) can focus on effective enforcement of existing laws, especially strengthening our background check system, and we can work together to enact commonsense improvements--like reinstating the assault weapons ban and closing the gun show loophole--so that guns do not fall into the hands of those irresponsible, law-breaking few."

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(PR) “I (Joe Biden) also have never seen the nation’s conscience so shaken by what happened (in Newtown)”

(PG) "Sooner or later we all must die. Warriors choose to do so on their feet, standing between their enemies and those they hold dear. With a weapon in their hands. Cowards choose to do so on their bellies. Unarmed."

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(PG) "I'd much rather go to my grave never needing my gun, than go there wishing I had it."

(PR) "We (US Democratic Party) understand the terrible consequences of gun violence; it serves as a reminder that life is fragile, and our time here is limited and precious"

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(PR) "I (Barack Obama) believe in (the) 2nd Amendment, but not war weapons on streets."

(PG) "guns don't kill people, people kill people."

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The last quote is completely neutral but is strong enough to end this murky debate, so after reading it, you can make your own decision on which side of the fence you sit.

US 2nd Ammendment: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." (1791)
*All views expressed in this blog are my own personal views and not those of the ABC