Gun Controls Must Be Enforced, Strengthened
Nine people are killed by an irate day trader in Atlanta and three are gunned down by a mad co-worker in Alabama. The similarities with the Littleton, CO, school shootings are apparent.
The school shooting got wider press because it was perpetrated by children against children, but all incidents involved people not only depressed and defeated by life to the point of suicide, but also so angry as to want to take others with them when they died. Nothing better illustrates the fact that our schools are merely reflections of society when it comes to the people they educate and the problems they face. If illegal drugs are a problem in society, they will be problems in the schools; if violence is widespread in the community, violence will be widespread in the schools.
In the wake of the Colorado shootings, virtually every school district in America reviewed the way it looks at "loners," outcasts and students in general. No similar action is proposed for the workplace, where the violence is greater, the anger deeper and the individuals better able to inflict carnage.
A common denominator, unfortunately, is the firearm. The long-cherished American "right to bear arms" has mutated into a means of expressing anger, getting revenge and venting rage. While there are any number of ways of committing murder, by far the easiest and most convenient is with the firearm. When people can no longer cope with life, they are more often turning to guns as the means of what amounts to committing suicide ­ shooting those they perceive to have wronged them and then killing themselves.
Public officials, police, psychologists and pundits have expressed a multitude of theories to explain the recent rampages, but there is no one single answer. What we do know is that many people live close to the boiling point; society as a whole is more prone to demonstrating its rage now than ever before, and more capable than ever before. We have even coined a term, "road rage," to describe people whose anger erupts while they're driving.
Just as doctors must often treat the symptoms of a disease while they seek the root cause, so too should America start to address the issue of limiting access to certain firearms. The first step should be the rigorous enforcement of all current gun control laws and the extension of the Brady Bill to cover all firearm sales, particularly those at gun shows and between individuals, and severe penalties for possession of an unregistered gun. The next step should be to increase severely the penalties for the possession of firearms during the commission of a crime, the unlicensed carrying of a firearm in public and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Furthermore, legislation should be enacted to make possession of a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle tantamount to carrying a loaded weapon in public.
Owning a firearm should be considered a privilege, not a right, the Second Amendment to the Constitution notwithstanding. Those who abuse the privilege should be severely punished and have the privilege revoked.
None of these proposed steps would be likely to deter a deranged person from taking a gun to school or to work, particularly if the perpetrator had no prior arrests. What they would do is close a major loophole in the Brady Bill that makes it easy for felons to purchase firearms, raise the penalty so that some people might think twice before carrying and using a gun in crime and extend the registration of guns through subsequent resales.
One theory is arming the public would prevent crime. Quite the opposite is proving true. It is the proliferation of guns that makes it so easy for those with criminal intent to acquire the tools of their trade. America must act decisively to make it harder and more costly for those who would use guns to rob, intimidate and kill.

Commerce
Plans Annexation
In Banks County
It became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
For years, Banks County officials have publicly worried about Commerce annexing parts of Banks Crossing. For years, they have publicly stated that there is a need to protect the busy interchange from the evil clutches of Commerce.
That Commerce had no designs on Banks County made no difference. The rhetoric continued.
So Commerce officials figured if they're going to be accused of coveting Banks County territory anyway, they might as well grab some.
Commerce, I am told, will annex Hardy's Store.
Using its power of eminent domain and some under-the-table bargaining, Commerce will have Rep. Scott Tolbert quietly introduce legislation in January annexing Hardy's Store and all of the land within 100 feet of it. From that point, the city can annex to the north until it acquires the old Banks County High School site. The city plans to turn the site into a minimum security prison to house detainees sentenced in Municipal Court for such crimes as noise order violation, disorderly conduct and violation of the animal control ordinance.
Why Hardy's Store?
"Well, we're losing Wal-Mart, you know," explained one city official who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. "Without Wal-Mart, there will be no place in Commerce to buy fishing lures or shotgun shells. We need a good place, in Commerce, where people can buy hunting and fishing gear. Hardy's Store always had a better selection than Wal-Mart anyway."
While the legislative method of annexing non-contiguous property is suspect, city officials say Tolbert, who is being roundly criticized for his dealings with Water Wise Inc., will jump at the chance to stay in the good graces of Commerce officials and voters.
"He's going to need some friends," the spokesman stated.
Rep. Jeanette Jamieson has already agreed to go along with the plot so Banks County officials will take more seriously her legislation to allow Homer to annex Banks Crossing. The city annexation will validate Jamieson's paranoia about the city's plans and virtually assure her re-election by enabling her to play the "Commerce card" in all subsequent elections.
The move will accomplish more than assuring Jamieson's perpetuation in the Georgia House. The new Commerce Detention Center will provide the city a more stable detainee labor force than it's been getting from the I.W. Davis facility in Jefferson. Commerce officials have long complained that the detainee crew for which it contracts is absent too many days. Detainees would maintain the city buildings and grounds, including the Streetscape, and could be used in other roles such as substitute school bus drivers and newspaper columnists.
In exchange for a promise of two permanent detainee crews, Banks County Commissioner James Dumas will quietly support the city's effort.
Right now this is all hush-hush, and city officials will deny everything. But when the legislation goes in the hopper in January, remember that you read it here first.
It might not be a good idea to admit you believed it, however.