Gun regulations aren’t what failed

Dan Ward, Las Vegas

Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012 | 2 a.m.

What discussion would we be having right now across the nation if just one person inside that school was armed, trained and had stopped Adam Lanza before he could commit this horrific act? What discussion would we be having right now if Nancy Lanza had secured those weapons the way most law-abiding owners of assault weapons do?

There wouldn’t be much of any discussion in the first case and none in the second because the incident never would have happened.

It is completely understandable why someone who has not grown up within a culture of assault weapons would say that they should be banned and that there is “no good reason” for anyone to own one. I will agree that there is no good reason for anyone to own an assault weapon if they will agree that there is no good reason for alcohol or cigarettes to be legal.

There is no good reason for anyone to own a high-powered, road-race-style motorcycle capable of ungodly speeds and operate it on our public highways. More than 10 times as many people are killed every year in motorcycle accidents as by assault weapons.

But in the case of a mass shooting like Sandy Hook, it’s simply not enough to say the reason those people lost their lives was because Nancy Lanza failed to control Adam Lanza’s behavioral issues and his ability to access those weapons. Someone needs to pay; assault weapons, the NRA, video games, movies — anything but the stark reality that in our society, bad things happen to good people every single day. It’s not until something like this happens that people finally wake up and pay attention.