Dear US, solve gun control before waging war!

Instead of looking at other countries, security of the US from its own citizens should be a more pressing concern.

Student A:

“I’ve got a new gun, it’s a Glock 39. It’s a small yet powerful package”

Student B:

“Wow, that’s so cool. I brought my new ‘Desert Eagle’ today, let’s check them out.”

Student A:

“Sure, after class. Let’s try few shots on the nerdy Physics professor; he’s been wearing DOD’s ballistic undies lately”

As both students talk quietly in the class, the teacher comes up from behind them and loads his M4 Carbine,

“Both of you- hands up! Drop your weapons – You were not supposed to take them out of your bags and plan a new assault on your professors.”

The teacher then leads both students to the chancellor’s office with their hands in the air. As they walk in, they find him sitting on top of an Abraham Tank with complete body armour. He says,

“Welcome to the Colorado University, where weapons are now OK.”

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This conversation above may sound like a joke. Hilarious or not, it could very well be a reality given the latest verdict by state Supreme Court that overturned a 1994 ban on firearms on school campuses in Colorado, USA. It is ironic to note that that this ruling has been in response to a recent shooting in Colorado theatre that resulted in the death of a number of people including children.

Students with a ‘conceal carry permit’ will be allowed to maintain weapons during their time on campus. This decision has widened the on-going gun-culture debate engulfed by recent 'terrorism' incidents by US citizens, unfortunately for them, all of whom are non-Muslims.

This recent decision has further terrified Americans, adding to their problems, rather than consolidating the fault-lines towards long-term solutions and security.

It’s evident that the law in the US and many European countries are at a loss given the nature of killings that have taken place. Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian youth who killed scores of people when on a rampage, is just one example. The law might have incarcerated him, but the question to be asked is;

Does the punishment fit the crime? Is it proportional to the act committed?

Some critics believe that there is a great deal of failure on part of the US authorities, to label such deranged acts as those of ‘terrorists’, when in fact these are prime examples of terror. Just locking them up won’t suffice when the act is not appropriately condemned by law.

According to Nathan Lean’s article in the LA Times, Breivik insisted that his fertilizer bomb and machine gun were necessary instruments to stop what he viewed as a creeping Muslim takeover of Europe.

Whether the west believes it or not, we too find such attacks and sporadic terror unleashed, be it on western society or eastern. by someone like Breivik, frightening. But what is worse is that they may never be labelled terrorists despite the trail of carnage they leave behind. Contrast the sentence awarded to Breivik for his brutality with the immediate arrests of Muslims who view certain links on the internet; the difference in justice can easily be seen; one is a terrorist and the other 'mentally unstable'. You can guess who is who.

In recent times, certain elements have exhibited the defects in the fabric of western society; while more individuals step up and engage in acts of terrorism, highlighting disparities, the authorities seem to be busy covering up their own domestic failures or directing attention towards ‘Islamic extremism’.

However, as more and more non-Muslim individuals show their frustration, what the CIA, FBI and MI6 need to focus on is the real threat; weak governance and policies within the western framework; before patience runs out and people start taking the law in their own hands.

In contrast, Pakistan, a country that continues to face an immense amount of strife in the shape of a weakened economy, ongoing militancy as well as internal opportunists, there has never been a case where a child in school or college picks up a weapon and goes on a rampage.

The reason such issues are unique to the western society lies in the fact that there is no order and discipline; the military is engaged in failed wars that their people know are unjustified. The green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan each day symbolises dissent, failed policy, and a complete lack of regard for western militaries. It’s no wonder that men trained for the Afghan army inevitably turn on their western trainers.

As for the government in Washington, they have been hijacked by a band of thieves who have enslaved their populations in a twisted form of democracy. When people begin to realise what is happening, they don’t know how to react and what we end up seeing is carnage in the form of Cho’s Virginia Tech assault, Breivik’s murder spree, the killing of innocent Sikhs in Wisconsin and the recent incident of shooting at the Empire State Building.

With a web of complications that the US seems to have tangled itself into, it is high time the western developed world assessed its own self rather than classifying any other nation to be a potential threat. With economic conditions worsening rapidly, and these incidents on the rise, there is a dire need of self reflection and re-evaluation.

Instead of looking outward at what militant groups are doing in other countries, security of the US from its own citizens should be a more pressing concern.

Read more by Tabish here, or follow him on Twitter @tabesch.