The Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre has brought the issue of gun control to the forefront of American politics and society as a whole.
Once again those that defend the rights of people to bear arms have employed their usual arguments.
The problem is that those arguments are ludicrous. They're cloaked in fantasy and backed up by false assumptions.
Start with the argument that is born directly out of the text of our Second Amendment to the US Constitution. The part that stresses the importance of a well regulated militia, and its' importance to securing securing a free state.
Forget for a moment that the document, while brilliant was penned over 200 years ago.
Gun Rights advocates want you to believe that they should be guaranteed the rights to purchase guns, all types of guns, and all the various types of ammo that go with them so they can defend themselves against a potentially tyrannical government.
The spirit of that is not in and of itself terrible. The thought that guns will make even one iota of difference is a fantasy of the highest order.
These people want you to believe that the fact that they own a bunch of assault rifles will allow them a fighting chance against the US Army and its' entire military.
That's the same military with more tanks, aircraft, assault helicopters and technology than any other army on earth,ever.
Attack drones, laser guided missiles, a well trained and skilled military with over a million soldiers, and these gun nuts are going to insure our freedom, or their's because they've got a street legal M-16, and a clip that can hold multiple bullets??
Of course the US Military is only as strong as it is because for decades gun rights advocates have been loyally voting for politicians who have subscribed to policies that advocate for a strong National Defense.
The good news for these voters is that the United States does have the largest and strongest modern standing army in the world. The bad news is that those guns you're keeping in your household make you nothing more than a gnat fighting an elephant should a violent confrontation occur.
So where could gun rights advocates be getting these delusions of grandeur from?
Ironically enough they're getting these visions from one of the most commonly cited scapegoats they employ to shift the blame for gun violence from the actual guns, to something more nebulous and far less guilty of this Nation's bloodshed.
Hollywood.
Yes, only in Hollywood are the types of us-against-the-world scenarios the gun fanatics routinely embrace in an effort to sell the validity for lapse gun control laws brought to life.
So here's a wake-up call for the gun lobby.
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, didn't win against the Bolivian Army.
John McClain, the witty, western quoting cop with a chip on his shoulder, who takes out small armies of terrorists on his own was a fictional character. Even if Die Hard wasn't fictional, the hero was a police officer, someone trained to fire a gun. He wasn't just an average citizen.
Red Dawn was also not based on a true story. Yes it was fun rooting for those high school kids against an army of Russian, and Central American Communist invaders.
It was also a complete fantasy. Had it been based on a true story the high school kids would have lost, and lost in a more decisive and gruesome manner than what was portrayed in the movie.
At the end of the day it makes sense for gun rights advocates place blame on Hollywood, after all they've clearly been watching far too much of it.
If gun-control opponents would like a real example of the impact high-powered assault rifles and unprecedented access to guns can have on a normal society, all they had to do was watch the news on Friday December 14th 2012.
The people who need to stop watching movies and engaging in wild militaristic fantasies are the same people who will tell you that gun laws won't make a difference. This in spite of the fact that no other major industrialized nation has either the same sort of legal access to firearms, or the same amount of deaths due to firearms.
Mental health issues, violent video games, violent movies all play roles in the violence so prevalent in our society, but the ability to act on one's most violent impulses with lethal force is also a major factor as well.
This nation needs to get serious about guns and violence and stricter gun control laws have to play a major part in that.