The Rusted Musket

I just read this awesome quote from President Reagan:

“We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.”

When there is a shooting, instead of putting all the blame on the criminal shooter, we instead blame the failure of our laws or our society not the person who broke those laws. Isn’t that a oxymoron? The shooter broke the law, how would more laws have stopped him? It is not society’s fault that he went out and shot people, it is his fault. Stricter gun laws won’t stop him from getting a gun. He can steal one (from police, legal gun owners, the military, the FBI) or buy one illegally (ala blackmarket).

The Arizona shooting is tragic, but it wasn’t a failure of society or our laws. It was solely the fault of the shooter.

Once upon a time I led Liz on a scavenger hunt that, among many things, ended with a BMX bike and a marriage proposal. Fast forward many happy married years later. There’s an arrow leaning against the wall in our bedroom, it’s a symbolic arrow (it was part of the scavenger hunt), but the arrow itself isn’t cool looking, it has yellow and red fins, which is why it waits in a forgotten corner of our bedroom.

The other day we had children over (not our own, we don’t own any children) and of course they found the Symbolic Arrow. As responsible adults living in a not so responsible non-kid proof apartment we reclaimed this potential weapon of mass destruction before any eyes had been poked and leather made swiss. At some point during the reclamation, or its aftermath, I found myself holding the Symbolic Arrow and immediately lapsed into some sort of nostalgic trance which took the form of a two pathed dialog tree!

Dialog Branch One: When I held the arrow, it reminded me how Liz had hit the bulls eye of my heart.

Dialog Branch Two: When I held the arrow, it reminded me how much I wanted to get a bow and some arrows.

Image Credit: Deviantart.com – DreamerSeven