Fire arms: for or against?

After the shooting tragedy at Sandy Hook primary school in Newtown, Connecticut, the debate is again going on whether or not fire arms should be banned.

Here in Belgium there are strict laws for weapon use. You can't just go into a store and buy a gun (handgun or rifle). No, you have to be at least of age (over 18) and have all kinds of permits. Only registered hunters and sport shooters can legally buy arms. Of course, if you go to the black market, you can find a kalashinikov without any problem...

Personally, I don't have any feel for guns. I wouldn't know how to shoot one, and even with one in hand would not know where the bullet would be headed. That is of course because of my poor eyesight. But then I also don't feel like shooting down someone.

This doesn't mean I'm against the possesions of fire arms. Our laws are such that when a person breaks into your home you can't do just anything. You have to let them rob or murder you, otherwise the poor fellow will file a law suit against you! That is not okay by me. I know for myself, if someone ever breaks into my house and I can hit the perp over the head with a heavy object or kick him off the stairs, I sure won't hesitate to defend myself.

In theory, you are in the right when you claim self-defense. But you better make sure the perp won't tell anything anymore. Only a dead perp won't tell lies.

So I don't really know if I'm for or against fire arms. My once boyfriend said he'd provide me with one and would learn me how to shoot it, but that was before he disappeared. Now I only have an antiquated World War One rifle and a bayonet, which are somewhere in my attic.

Personally, I don't think the possession of arms makes you a murderer. The boy who made all these victims at the Sandy Hook school was clearly dissatisfied with his life - you can see it in the eyes. Because he used fire arms, he made more victims than our own Kim De Gelder, who shares the same forlorn and dead look with Adam Lanza. He used a knife, so he only made five victims when he entered a kid's day care center and began to slash around.

Adam Lanza (above) and Kim De Gelder (underneath)

See the dead eyes? These guys are sick in their head, but don't think they are psychopaths. A real psychopath is highly intelligent and you'll never know he is a killer - I know, I've met two of them already.

Something should be done to make this not happen again. Society should be much more proactive in helping out people who are mentally unstable. Another example: a week or so ago, a young mother killed three of her children. The mother-in-law had noticed she was behaving strangely, but the husband would hear nothing of it. I still find the mother-in-law should have alerted the social services and then a tragedy could have been prevented.