The past weeks have been a sad time in the days of our community, the U.S. community and the world as well.

First we had the tragic fire in Happy Valley. It took an entire family from this earth and left behind only the frailties of our human condition.

Then we have had to experience the national tragedy, Virginia Tech and the enormous loss of young lives.

Throughout these same weeks there have been other tragedies around the world, the never-ending bombings, other assaults of human vs. human.

In all of this violence, guns have played their role in the tragedies. Because of these incidents, more good-hearted individuals are stepping forward to add their indignant cries for gun control.

Sorry, bad idea.

The bad guys are always going to have the guns and the good guys are going to obey the laws. With stringent gun control that means the good guys are left defenseless.

The people who use violence against others don’t think the same way as the rest of us. They have no conscience, they have no scruples, and they have no hesitation if given the choice of their life or yours.

Consider that recently in a country that has some of the strictest gun laws in the world — Japan — the mayor of Nagasaki, a large city, was gunned down during his re-election campaign. Interestingly enough, Japan is now determined to tighten their gun restrictions even more.

Again, those who are bent on destruction, murder or mayhem don’t think like you or I. And yet, they can still exist in the fringes of our society.

Does that mean we look at everyone with suspicion? We can’t. It would take all of the freedom we enjoy in our very existence in the U.S. and turn our core society into a distrustful and malicious group ready to incarcerate anyone who looks sideways.

It’s not easy to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. It requires thoughtfulness, respect of others, tolerance, and most of all risk.

If we do not want to be held hostage by the terrorists, the thugs, the dark side of our society, we must risk living our lives as though there is no threat.

Because the good guys will always hesitate, or give “the bad guys” one more chance, there will always be tragedy.

However, it is always a comfort to me to know that the good guys, for now, will be able to continue to protect themselves and others as necessary because our second amendment outlines the citizenry’s right to “keep and bear arms.”

My heart goes out to those who have been so greatly affected by these recent events — family, friends and co-workers. But we should proceed with common sense, not hysterics.