The Lone Knifeman.

       A lone gunman has killed four Marines and wounded several people in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It's getting so a week doesn't go by without some gunman killing a bunch of people. At least that's the impression we get from the news media. Here a gunman, there a gunman, everywhere a gun-gun-gunman. to here it you'd think the only people who are killing people are other people with guns. Not so. There are many ways to kill people.
       Look, I realize it's easier to kill somebody with a gun than almost any other way, but you have to understand, the gun lobby doesn't like to hear it stated that way. It makes it sound like the only effective way to kill people is with a gun. And that flies in the face of the NRA's "guns don't kill people" mantra.
       Why is it you never hear a headline that shouts out "A lone knifeman has killed 27 people and is under arrest after having received a knife wound?" Of course, knives don't kill people either. But that's an argument for another post. The important point to keep in mind is that guns have yet to be robotized to where they can operate independently from the people pointing them. On the other hand, no other weapon can work independently from it's operator either.
       The fact that guns seem to be the weapon of choice is all to often overlooked. Could bows and arrows replace guns as number one on the HIT parade? Ehhh, still not as convenient as a gun. No, the best weapon to choose, if you want to get the job done, is the gun.
       The point I'm working toward is that since we can't eliminate the individual in advance of a killing spree, the next best thing would be to eliminate the weapon he or she is likely to choose. And therein lies the problem. If there's one thing we've come to understand, it's that no gun can ever be banned because the NRA won't stand for it. We could eliminate the entire human population, but not one single gun.