I don't mean to be the one starting the gun control conversation but...

First I would like to note that my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families affected by the shooting in Newtown, CT, and Chenpeng, China. No parent should EVER have to go through losing a child, let alone losing him/her in such a horrific and violent way. I've seen many children pass before their time and with several cousins that I love dearly that are elementary school aged, and I've had a cousin pass when she was 18 months old due to meningitis . This being said, I don't know what it's like to lose a child as I've never had one, but I can imagine the pain of losing a close family member that was far too young.

Second, I grew up around guns... Not so much in my own home, but I've always lived around people who are hunters. It's a part of my culture, so this isn't something that I really thought too much about up until the past year or so. With 4 gun violence tragedies in the United States within the past 5 months, you would think someone would get the ball rolling on gun control laws. Even the shooting of a senator has done little to kick up any debate in Congress. So, why isn't anything getting done?

Yeah, I get it, the Fiscal Cliff thing is approaching, but shouldn't we also be trying to keep people safe. I'm not saying take everyone's guns away. However, I am saying make it harder to get a gun. Make every person registering for a firearm license take an EXTENSIVE psychological evaluation. I mean, why would we but guns into the hands of the people most likely to cause mass shootings? And you know what? Require a yearly psych eval or have your weapons and license revoked. It sounds simple enough to me.

And why are people allowed to have assault rifles? This of course referring to the movie theatre shooting in Aurora, Colorado. Who the hell needs an assault rifle if they aren't in combat? I'm sorry, but your average Joe doesn't sit around on his front porch cleaning a AK-47 when his daughter's date comes to pick her up (I'm from the south, so this isn't that much of a stretch from what I see). A simple hunting rifle will suffice.

Anyway, that's the end of my rant... Also, this is my first blog that actually means anything.