Gun-Control Policy In The Us Should Include Checking Youth Freedoms

It is consoling that the wrangling about guns in the United States of America has culminated in the passage of gun-control laws; however it would help better to check the freedoms of the average American youth. The legal rights accorded American children make them feel almost as if they dictate the lives of their parents, or even take away the rights and freedoms of their parents because of their presence! Obviously, the parents' human rights do not end with the procreation of children; their choices vis-a-vis legal limitations should be upheld too.

This is how America went a little too far or allowed herself to be manipulated. A child's life is neither better nor worse than their parents' but however brilliant a child may be, their upbringing cannot be without the guidance and support of an adult, and if any adult should have a say in a child's life, their parent should be the first. For hierarchical discipline it is never proper for a child, no matter who, to make their parent feel insignificant or less human for having them.

Unfortunately it is this feeling of grandeur over parents that makes them feel almost like tin-gods in their youthful age; combined with youthful exuberance, a bored, angry or depressed youth could dare to derive excitement or retribution from the power of their gun over humans! They usually do not live to tell their regrets for their escapades which could have come after the act.

An Akan proverb translate thus, "If one learns meat-eating with beef, what would they eat after graduation?" From this, one can interrogate the impact of over-pampering our children in the name of love in upbringing and then expect them to be law-abiding as they mature and face the larger world where there is competition for attention! It is better to teach the child the way to go, so that when they grow they would not depart from it! In the US, the love given to pets and property by their owners is remarkable, and there is the temptation to extend more of it to their children as their heirs, companions, etc, but humans are to play more challenging roles in their adult life than the pet just as is expected of the soldier for example, so this is not taken for granted when training them. Is the soldier not human enough or valued enough to be pampered during their training? After their training is the average soldier not more endowed and free of fear in life? Is this a bad thing?

The gun as with any tool or gadget could have been intended for good only during its creation, but the same mind that perceived goodness could wickedness another time! As I have said in an earlier article, guns do not shoot; it takes the human to pull the trigger for it to shoot. Let the human have the right attitude to life and compassion for humans and the gun will only be fired in games and sports (target practice) instead of at humans, either for satisfaction or for robbery.

The guns are very common and has so much been part of the American life from time immemorial that it is almost like the handbag in a lady's clothing? Of course so common is it in the barracks of any military camp, but discipline deters them from it's misuse. In their training and work, they know the punishment if they mess with the gun, even as it is part and parcel of their working life.

All said and done, it is good that the guns are controlled, to curb wanton distruction of life, kudos to all who contributed to it; however the management of mind that controls the would have more and better social impact. So let the USA work towards that and the Global Village will support her, for what affects America affects other economies and vice versa, because of her all-inclusive policy.