Peace cannot be kept by force, only by understanding

When confronted by persons intent on violence, it is hard to resist retaliation and recrimination but only a logical and reasoned response prevents the violent evildoers from achieving their goals. We should protect ourselves but we cannot promote hate and respond in kind to every outrageous provocation. A reasoned and logical response to violence will help achieve and maintain a lasting peace around the world. We must make senseless and brutal violence harder to perpetrate and less desirable as a choice of action for our enemies.

In America, law enforcement officers have been targeted for assassination because a few individuals have a delusional frustration that convinces them violence against cops can somehow be justice for someone else. Black and white cops were killed in Dallas and Baton Rouge, and there is no justification for this violence. In America, dedicated police officers understand and have adopted an appropriate motto: “Blue Lives Matter!”.

In Europe and the Middle East, Muslims are murdered by terrorists who claim they support Islam. This mindless violence is testing the resolve and capacity for reasonableness of civilized people everywhere. ISIS agents are killing Muslims at a greater rate than other people, and their indifference to brutal violence reveals the true nature of this enemy.

Terrorists are perverting a faith that extolls mercy by killing innocent men, women and children in its name. They are only concerned about power and they hope to achieve it through terror. It is their plan to goad the reasonable people in the civilized world so they commit to a policy of violent retaliation.

The people of the world must work in closer cooperation than ever before to present a united front of civilization to the minions of anarchy and death. They would be happier to rule in a cemetery than to live in a peaceful and just world.

If America could get the guns and military style rifles favored by terrorists and murderers off of the market, it would be a small step toward peace. In America, tens of thousands of retailers sell guns to the public and there may be as many as 300 million guns in America. If you want you to purchase a pistol or rifle, you can buy one any weekend at the dozens of gun shows held nationwide.

Federal background checks are only required for in-store purchases at a retail store. A gun buyer in Walmart has to fill out a form from the ATF that requires personal information and requires the potential buyer to answer if he has ever been convicted of a felony or crime of domestic violence, unlawfully used marijuana or narcotic drug or controlled substance, if he is a fugitive from justice or if he ever was committed to a mental institution?

The retailer must check government-issued photo ID and then contact the FBI, to run a background check through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) that gives results in minutes. The federal background check lets the retailer know if the buyer is a convicted felon, a perpetrator of domestic violence, has been convicted of a crime with a sentence exceeding two years, is an illegal immigrant or ever declared “mentally defective,” which will disqualify the individual from making the purchase.

Felons and mentally defective gun enthusiasts can still buy guns at gun shows because of an NRA loophole. A buyer at a gun show can buy without a federal background check from a private seller. President Obama attempted to eliminate the gun show loophole in 2013 but Congress would not pass it. He said, “At some point, we … will have to reckon with the fact that this kind of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries” and “it is in our power to do something about it.” It will take a Congress that is not beholden to the NRA in order to effect some changes to our haphazard gun regulations.

Federal law used to define a private seller as anyone selling more than four firearms per year but this sensible definition was too clear and the NRA bankrolled the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act to change that definition so it was sufficiently amorphous to be unenforceable. A private seller is now defined as someone who does not rely on gun sales as a principal source of income.

Donald Trump selected Indiana Governor Mike Pence to be his running mate, which is a clear signal that he will bow to the NRA if elected president. Pence is a vocal advocate for gun rights who voted to pass the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to protect gun manufacturers from being sued. He supported efforts to roll back gun laws in Washington, D.C.

The NRA bestowed its endorsement on Donald Trump and regularly awarded Pence a grade of “A+” for his slavish pro-NRA track record, including a law prohibiting tax dollars from use to buy back illegal guns in Indiana.

In 1994 “Flip Flop” Donald supported the ban on assault weapons that President Clinton pushed through Congress. He is now “pro-gun” and will take his direction from the NRA. If a person can be judged by the company he keeps then Trump’s selection of Mike “Two Gun” Pence as his running mate is very strong signal that he will blindly support gun rights over citizens’ rights. This alone is reason enough not to cast a vote for the Trump-Pence ticket.