SAN NARCISO, Calif. (Bennington Vale Evening Transcript) -- Despite recent massacres, heated political rhetoric and calls to action, gun-related violence in the United States continues to escalate. Advocates for stricter regulations cite this disturbing trend as proof that more controls are needed to curb the threat. Those in favor of abolishing all limitations on weapons ownership point to the same trend as evidence that more people need access to military grade assault weapons to protect themselves from the swelling menace, echoing the National Rifle Association's (NRA) assertion that only "good guys with guns can stop bad guys with guns." But the dynamics of the debate changed in April with the gruesome advent of four- and five-year-old shooters. Conservative lawmakers, backed by the NRA, are now demanding compulsory gun ownership for any child over the age of two, whose parents are legal residents of the United States.

It's Elementary...School: A New Generation of Killers
According to authorities in Nashville, Tenn., a four-year-old picked up a loaded firearm at a family barbecue on April 8 and shot the wife of a sheriff's deputy. The victim, Josephine Fanning, 48, was killed.

The incident occurred when Fanning's husband was displaying his weapons collection to friends in the bedroom of his home.

"It's one of those terrifying situations you can't predict," said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. "You have a responsible gun owner, a deputized officer of the law, showing off a massive arsenal in a secure area of his home. What happened next was the stuff of nightmares. A homicidal toddler, death burning in his demonic eyes, strolled in and snatched one of the guns. He then waddled outside and took Mrs. Fanning's life in cold blood. It's also very probable that the child overpowered the deputy. Kids have an uncanny strength at that age."

According to LaPierre, it was the family's overly responsible management of their weapons that allowed the toddler's murderous designs to unfold.

"Had they been more lax -- left guns out in the open for others to use, or made sure all the guests were armed during the cookout -- somebody would have been able to blow that little monster's head off before he could figure out how to release the safety and force the trigger back," LaPierre said.

The fear of weapons bans and spartan restrictions on firearms usage, NRA executives noted, have hobbled responsible owners.

"The threats and hateful outcries from liberals in this country have forced decent American gun owners -- potential heroes, all of them -- into helplessness," LaPierre added. "They're afraid to use their guns and have them seized in the night by jackbooted Democratic stormtroopers. So gun owners are shamed into keeping their firearms under lock and key, where these instruments of peace can no longer serve the holy purposes for which they were created."

LaPierre's dire warnings gained further credence on May 1 when another child killer surfaced in Kentucky.

Authorities in Cumberland County reported that a five-year-old boy took his .22-caliber rifle from the family's mobile home, went outside and fatally shot his two-year-old sister in the chest while his mother cleaned the kitchen.

"Down in Kentucky where we're from, you know, guns are passed down from generation to generation," the Cumberland County coroner told reporters. "You start at a young age with guns for hunting and everything."

More unusual than a child having a gun, he said, is "that a kid would get shot with it."

Unlike the Nashville killer, this underaged butcher owned his weapon. The rifle was manufactured by a company that sells guns tailored to children. The slogan is "my first rifle."

But even in rural "Guntucky," where guns are used to hunt game, children under the age of nine cannot get certified.

"We don't have Piggly Wiggly and Trader Johns [sic] out here in the woods, and folks couldn't afford to shop in them anyway," the coroner said. "Hunting is what puts food on the table. And kids must still reach the state's legal age of consent -- nine -- to carry a rifle. Our thinking is if you can marry and have kids of your own, you can hunt and provide for that family."

The NRA, however, argues that these unreasonable age restrictions lie at the heart of the problem.

"You can't let one rotten apple spoil the bunch," LaPierre said. "Evil is out of our hands. We don't operate that domain, but we can control it. Prayer, while a good practice, is not enough. You need guns to stop thugs with guns; that's why God invented them."

The NRA believes that if the age restrictions were removed, the two-year-old Kentucky girl may have been armed and able to defend herself against her twisted, maniacal brother.

LaPierre anticipates the situation to worsen. He referenced Stephen King's 1977 short story "Children of the Corn" as a model of America's dark future. In the story, children inhabiting a small Nebraska town slaughter all the adults at the exhortations of an evil entity they call "He Who Walks Behind the Rows."

The NRA is now showing the film version of "Children of the Corn" as an educational resource to lobby for repealing all weapons regulations in order to prevent the country from becoming a Satanic nation-state of ghost towns ruled by pre-teen serial killers.

Brave Lawmakers Defy Emotionally Blind Public to Ensure Adequate Supply of Guns and Armed Defenders
The horrific tragedy that befell the quiet suburban community of Newtown, Conn., in December 2012 was brandished as a clarion call for weapons reform in the country. And yet lawmakers have consistently proven reluctant to impose more gun control.

On April 17, the desperate search to find preventative solutions to the violence that left 20 children massacred at the Sandy Hook elementary school practically ended when the Senate struck down a series of measures to broaden controls for gun ownership.

The deal to expand background checks for buyers, ban assault weapons and restrict high-capacity magazines all failed to secure the 60 votes needed under a proposed bipartisan agreement. Of the 45 lawmakers who voted against the measures, four Democrats contributed to the wrenching defeat.

The failure to pass meaningful oversight for weapons ownership was particularly crushing to the 90-percent of Americans who supported tighter controls. According to analysts, Congress' rejection of moving forward with reform could likely signal the demise of similar referendums in the future.

Lawmakers opposed to impinging on the Second Amendment cited their duty to decide issues based on logic and constitutionality rather than pandering to passions. On Monday, they moved the discussion in the opposite direction by vowing to relax rules that currently forbid minors from purchasing and carrying firearms for their defense.

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), one of the four Democrats to break party ranks and vote down the newly proposed gun controls, admitted that his decision will be unpopular, "but I voted with my conscience and with the ultimate safety of my constituency in mind," he stated.

"Passions are running high and people want an end to the violence, but eliminating weapons won't accomplish that -- it will only open the door to more killings," he added.

So long as the number of murderous youths climbs, Pryor explained, the nation needs to ensure that well-armed militias remain in force to squash the threat.

"Sure, I'm voting against the wishes of my people and am in some way shirking my responsibilities as a public servant, but I'm doing so for the greater good," he said. "One day, when the children rise up to overthrow the adults, these same detractors will thank me for my bravery and commitment."

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