"What once were vices are now habits..."

"It may seem difficult at first, but everything is difficult at first." - Miyamoto Musashi... swordsman, artist, writer, philosopher (1584-1645)

According to the latest year-to-year statistics, as of mid-September there were 10,480 gun-related homicides in the United States. Averaged out, that means approximately 43 people in this country were shot to death on Wednesday September 10^th, 2025.

One of those people was Charlie Kirk.

The motive of Kirk’s (alleged) shooter is irrelevant. Purposely killing another human being with a gun, even in war, is an act of temporary insanity. We’re the only species on the planet that kills each other with guns just because we can. In a nation with 350 million people and 400 million guns, what else can we expect?

A gun is a tool, designed to kill. However, guns don’t kill people… people with guns kill people, for reasons that typically don’t make sense to anyone but themselves. It could be for reasons of anger or rage or sadness or passion or hatred or malice or depression or because they’re drunk or high or stoned or sleepy or distracted or stupid or confused or just in no condition to be in possession of a loaded weapon.

This country is suffering from a dangerous addiction to guns and violence. We celebrate and glorify violence of every kind, and our reverential attitude towards guns makes it far too easy to use one in a violent outburst of insanity. We aren’t being realistic about humans going temporarily and violently insane with guns, because every aspect of our modern society is marinated in violence: movies, TV, video gaming, sports, social media, politics, religion, news, business, music. 

Implied, inherent and actual violence is in everything, everywhere, all at once.

Violence with guns is our new religion. All kneel at the altar in The Church of the Blessed Bullet. Holy, Holy, Hole-y. Body of Glock (Amen). Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!

Local police forces increasingly look like soldiers patrolling Fallujah. Children with Kevlar backpacks in hardened schools are drilled from a very young age in how to respond to active shooters. Teachers are being forced to arm up to ward off insane shooters. Politicians use public funds to create private security shields to protect themselves from the guns they refuse to regulate for the public. Magnetometers are an acceptable annoyance at many public events.

Unregulated and unfettered access to guns of every kind creates this reality. Question: how many mass-shootings have occurred in the US since September 10^th? Is one enough? Are six too many? Inquiring minds want to know.

In his now-infamous 2023 statement, Charlie Kirk said, “I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.” I guess Charlie never actually read The Bible (written by MEN, not God) or The Constitution (also written by MEN, not God).

I feel terrible for Charlie’s wife and children, because their loss is horrible. I hope they’ll find the strength, support and courage to weather this tragedy. Many Americans are forced to do the same every single day.

The one thing… maybe the ONLY thing… that we can do is to finally accept that we’re living in the year 2025, not 1791. Needless death by gunfire should be unacceptable to every American. We must enact meaningful, comprehensive and intelligent laws relating to gun ownership in our hyper-violent modern society: training, licensing, registration, liability insurance and severe penalties for misuse. 

Make sure that modern humans, who are fragile and fallible and prone to bouts of temporary insanity, are as responsible for owning a gun in the same way as owning a car – no more, no less.

It won’t eliminate gun deaths because impossible, but it can and will reduce the carnage. It won’t be easy. The question is: Can we or will we do this?

Magic 8-Ball says the answer is unclear.

Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791 to the Bill of Rights:

“A well-regulated militia, being necessary for the protection of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Remember: we’re not shooting each other with muskets.

Lead image, Gracias de Google Images; Musket loading and Lynyrd Skynyrd 'Saturday Night Special' videos, Muchisimas Gracias de You Tube.