Fred Thompson runs for president

The recent announcement by former actor/republican senator from Tennessee Fred Thompson that he is throwing his hat into the ring by expressing his desire to run for president further blurs the line between art and life. If he wins he will become the second actor to win the presidency of the United States.

He's going to have his work cut out for him. He does not have deep pockets or the backing of big money or of corporate/crime syndicate behind him. Insomuch as Kennedy had the Sam Giancana mob and Bush/Cheney had Haliburton Corp. and Carlyle Group, Thompson has the Internet. But what a powerful tool that has become. It could also work against him if he doesn't adapt by heeding the information that is available to him for research into what the American public actually wants.

He has stated unequivocally that he is anti-abortion (good) and pro-gun rights (bad). He had better clearly state his position on the latter if the online data sources are correct. Does his support for gun rights include a support for gun control legislation?

If anything, the last seven years have no doubt reinforced the average American's position on gun control. The following 2,000 poll results are found in an article buried in the CNN website titled Poll: Majority of Americans support stricter enforcement of nation's gun laws

Would you favor or oppose the registration of all handguns?

Favor 76%
Oppose 22%

In addition to registering handguns, would you favor or oppose the federal government requiring all handgun owners to obtain a special licence in order to own handguns?

Favor 69%
Oppose 29%

Would you favor or oppose a law limiting the number of handguns an individual can purchase to one per month?

Favor 58%
Oppose 40%

Would you favor or oppose a law requiring that all guns sold in the United States be equipped with built-in trigger locks?

Favor 79%
Oppose 19%

Do you favor or oppose a five-day waiting period for the purchase of handguns, in order to conduct background checks?

Favor 93%
Oppose 7%

(all the above are accurate to within +/- 3%)

Americans want a criminal background check of all handgun buyers. Good thing too. I live in Toronto, and the annual murder rate is rising alarmingly as a direct result of the influx of handguns by criminal elements from south of our border. Their ready availability there to legitimate buyers translates into their ultimate availability to criminals.

Hunters justify their hobby by saying that without hunting the deer would overrun the country. Well, naturally, because natural deer population control has been disrupted by the indiscriminate slaughter of wolf, coyote and mountain lion through the use of guns. I compare the human impact on wildlife control to the runaway dam building era of the forties, fifties and sixties. Out of control "water management" has led to nothing less than a catastrophe for most of the United States resulting in severe detrimental effects on the stability of the ground-water table. Most of the dams that have been built were to accommodate that fact, a serious incursion into national revenue, and the problem is still largely unsolved. Now add the effects of global warming.

You have to admire any individual who actually wants the job of U.S. president anymore. I applaud Fred Thompson's efforts, if only because he does stand alone in representing what he believes is right to the exclusion of some unseen puppeteer. Let's hope he reflects what's right for the world, and on a more specific note, bring about the means to defuse a pending more serious situation in Eastern Europe which could potentially bring about a return to the cold war era, something we all certainly don't need or want.

And for goodness' sake America, get your perverse gun obsession under control. 1776 is history, and you no longer need that provision in your constitution that guarantees the right to bear arms, because the British do not threaten your independence today. That is all that it was there for in the first place. It is not a statement of your individual right to freedom and the pursuit of happiness, and revoking that provision would not threaten that right. Owning a gun can not be allowed to be an integral part of your happiness. Look at the numbers. I maintain that people don't kill people, guns kill people. Think about it.

How do you make a smart person do something stupid? Give him a gun.