Terry - you make excellent points with respect to victims rights. In the US, our judicial tends to be more concerned with the rights of huge accused than the rights of the victim. If this weren't the case, I doubt very seriously if any former prisoner of a violent crime would ever see the light of day again. And many who face trial, would never walk the streets again.
It's definitely an imperfect system with too many protections for the wrong-doers.
Jeff is correct, for a private sale of a firearm, there is not a background check or waiting period required. Just as with a car, a boat or a dog. But I doubt very seriously that many guns are actually sold this way by "lawful" sellers to "unlawful" buyers. Some, sure. But not enough to warrant the wholesale change in my opinion. I've certainly not heard of it being the source for a steady stream of illegally used guns if it is occurring.
With respect to the question of "rights" and which is a "priority", I don't know that our Constitution constructed them in any sequence to establish that. I do know, that their assemblage in their entirety, is constructed to provide "the pursuit of life, liberty and freedom" without assurance from risk. When violated (these rights) there is punishment, but there are no guarantees in our system.
We certainly have a long and rich tradition of hunting, shooting (sporting) and firearm ownership here. It definitely stems from our original beginnings as a country. And regardless of which set of facts you believe, violence has been on the decline as an incident rate nationally since the late '80s. What has been on the increase, is the type of shooting and the persons doing it.
This bizarre occurrence of a young person, obviously troubled, shooting up a school is most troubling. Perhaps it says something more about the social climate and mental environment of our kids and their environment than it does about our mental health system? I haven't considered the problem from that perspective, nor have I heard much about it in that way either.
There is little evidence that those who buy guns lawfully commit these atrocities. But there is evidence that a parent who has purchased a weapon, and then allowed their child to wield it in these crimes, has done so with neglect. Aside from 1 or 2 instances, the source for how these shooters obtained their guns is often not disclosed or verified. But if suspect that many of them are lawfully purchased by their parent as I said.
So we go back to a lack of parenting, to mental health/mental strain issues, grossly affecting our younger generation. It's a sad state of affairs that this epidemic is on the rise, and now, in our infinite wisdom, we've begun to legalize marijuana. And we wonder why our social health is in rapid decline...
A nation of nit-wits we are becoming!
