How many times have I started a blog with that simple statement?  After each mass tragedy, I try to explain all gun owners are not gun nuts and not all gun nuts are “Area 51” Libertarians.  There are degrees of madness.

My father originally taught me about guns, when I was a little boy.  They were tools, like hammers or saws.  You kept them nearby, in case you saw a snake or a rabbit for the dinner stew.  Guns were mere tools!

I remember my grandfather showing me his shotguns, saying he was ready for the Communists to come over the hill in mountainous rural Virginia during the late 1950’s.  He knew perfectly well that was not going to happen but found it a convenient justification for his shotgun collection.  He had no idea of Ayn Rand’s Libertarian beliefs of evil Federal government forces trying to enslave us.  He just wanted a justification.

Often as a boy, I saw shotguns but never saw a fully-automatic assault rifle until I was in the Army.  They were useful in spraying rice paddies or other open areas with maximum firepower.  They had no purpose except killing other human beings.  Is that a mere tool?  A hammer drives nails.  Assault rifles kill humans.

Now, our country is terrorized by “Area 51” gun-nuts, who swear any regulation on guns is a slippery slope to confiscation of all guns.  They are simply NUTS!  The NRA started off legitimately but has descended into madness.  It is now clearly a terrorist organization and should be treated as such.  They are the most dangerous lobbyists in America.  While they have a convenient “slippery slope” theory, they have no decency as human beings.

From a regulatory standpoint, Americans can “walk and chew gum at the same time.”  We can allow the sale of handguns while forbidding the sale of bazookas.

From a psychological standpoint, I’ve never seen any research that a guy with 43 guns has some sort of penis-related issues but would not be surprised.

From a religious standpoint, since you can buy a $50 conversion kit on the internet to convert your semi-automatic rifle into a fully automatic one, I pray that whomever sold those kits to the Las Vegas shooter burns in hell forever!