New Celebrity Filled Video PSA Targets Gun Control – Is That the Answer?

We are more than a week past the unthinkable tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. - and the funerals continue. We all know what happened there and gun control has been a big topic of discussion and is getting more and more attention, especially since the head of the NRA made his thoughts known last week. A new video PSA for gun control has come out featuring 47 celebrities asking us all to 'demand a plan' to end gun violence. The video has been viewed more than four million times and does contain a very powerful message. Again, the question remains: is gun control the answer and how far will it go to end this senseless violence?

Many people believe that if someone wants to secure and use a gun, getting one would not be a problem. It's almost easier to get one illegally than it is to get one legally. This theory was played out early Christmas Eve in Webster, New York when ex-con William Spengler shot and killed two Webster fire fighters after setting his house on fire and lying in wait for the firefighters to arrive.

Being a convicted felon, Spengler was not allowed to possess firearms, but he did and used those weapons to gun down two innocent public servants and his sister. Even though it is against the law for convicted felons to possess firearms, Spengler was able to get several different guns...how? My guess is it wasn't all that difficult.

The point is, at least in this case, a law prohibiting this man from owning firearms did nothing to keep those guns out of his hands. I really don't know what the answer is, but it seems to me that we need to look beyond gun control itself because the problem goes much deeper. The message in this video PSA is valid: we DO need a plan, but what kind of plan? I wish I knew.