Guns! Guns! Guns!

Gun culture in the United States has reached a new level of absurdity in recent weeks. I didn't think that was possible.

I'm pretty much in the middle. I don't need or want a gun, but if other people are convinced they need to have one, fine. At the same time, no one needs an assault weapon. We live in an allegedly advanced society, not Thunderdome.

And yet, people are losing their minds. Last night I saw a story about teachers doing arms training. Seriously? Let's break that down rationally. While just one death in a school at the hands of a gunman is an unspeakable tragedy, the odds of it happening to you are so completely beyond minuscule. The bus ride to school is more dangerous. I suspect even walking to school is more dangerous. Perspective has been completely lost.

On the other hand, you have places like Chicago where the murder rate continues to rise, mostly at the hands of people with legally obtained guns, and the solution in the eyes of some is to make sure more people have guns. People have it in their minds that gun murders are these protracted shootouts where having a gun gives you a fighting chance. And yet, if a dude walks into a room and shoots you, that's not how it goes down.

So why exactly are people so worried about stronger regulation of guns? The truly stupid argument comes from comparisons to Nazis and other hyperbole, as if the people we elect are trying to control and oppress us. (Sidebar: I'd love to see how many gun rights activists also support the Patriot Act.) I'm far more concerned with anything that limits free speech than guns. The pen, as they say, is in fact mightier than the sword. The recent "Arab spring" demonstrated that truth in the most dramatic way.

There are common sense solutions around gun regulation. Gun violence is a complex problem, but the position that everyone should be armed and we should return to the wild west is just as stupid as suggesting we take every gun away.