When listening to the gun debate currently raging in the press, I try to
remember that most of my fellow Americans are not crazy. We are wiser, calmer, not as
fox-brainwashed as we appear, as evidenced by the re-election of President Barack
Obama. But, there are times when
the basic intelligence and decency of many citizens needs to be doubted,
exposed and explored. This is
obvious whenever I see Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association's public
face. It is the face of a bizarre
human being. Watching him speak, I have doubts as to his mental capacity to even BE
a gun owner, let alone gun promoter!
A few months ago, I wrote a blog about a man who blindly crashed his car into
my mother’s parked car outside our home.
The man was obviously on “something” and was carrying a loaded gun in
the front seat. He was distraught
over his break-up with his girlfriend and who knows where he was headed, in
that state, with his loaded gun.
The police, when they arrived did nothing to him. As a matter of fact, the force of their
speech was to my husband and I, telling us we didn’t understand because we are
not “gun people”! No, I am not a
gun person, I readily admit that.
However, the schism between that and driving intoxicated with a loaded
gun seems to loom large. It seems
the lecture should be directed to the guy acting irresponsibly who just crashed
into a PARKED car!
Anyway, I digress, but it simply proves to illustrate the gun
culture of this society. I have
been keeping a close eye on the gun debate currently raging in every part of
the press. On television, the
radio, in print, both sides are active, on high alert. Even our government, with sane voices
like that of the President of the United States and others are being heard. The narrative, which I believe the mainstream
media promotes courtesy of the NRA, is that this is much bluster with nothing real
or tangible able to happen. I
refuse to believe it.
Twenty 6 and 7 year olds along with six young teaching
professionals were gunned down less than two months ago by a young man with a
legally purchased (by his mom)
Bushmaster AR-15 rifle. There are zero federal restrictions on the
ownership of AR-15 rifles in the United States, zero. The gun used in Newtown,
Connecticut has been used before in many mass massacres in the United States
recently. Hunters do not use these
rifles, as the bullets would tear apart the flesh of their prey and the shooting
is pretty much general and not accurate.
These rifles are not even good at protecting from a home invasion for
the reason given…they are not accurate as they are meant to kill massive
amounts of people, not one directly attacking you.
There is no reason that I have heard on any of the numerous
debates I have listened to that have resonated as to why any civilian would
need an AR-15. None. The purpose of this gun is mass
shooting. It is a weapon of
war. The premise that we cannot,
as a nation, have sensible control of such a dangerous, destructive, heartache-producing
weapon, is absolutely amazing.
Banning the further sale of these weapons along with extended magazines
that aid in killing as many innocents as possible, should be obvious and
without argument, even by the NRA.
IF that organization would stand for sane regulations, perhaps they
would not be so despised by so many of us.
An AR-15 was also used in the mass massacre of moviegoers in
Colorado on July 20, 2012.
According to the letter from Aurora victims' family members – “an AR-15
assault rifle was used in the movie theater killing on July 20. "We
listened to the 911 tapes played in court and sat in agony as we heard 30 shots
fired within 27 seconds, wondering if one of those bullets killed our
children," the letter read.
Arguing for the continued sale of these weapons and these
extended clips is what the NRA is standing for at this point in our
history. Unbelievable, but true!
No one on the other side is saying that banning these weapons will end all
violence in our country, we are, unfortunately a society that applaudes and
rewards violence in our movies, our video games and our rhetoric. However, if
some lunatic is going to come at me in some public place with violence in mind,
I sure would rather he/she was not carrying an AR-15 with an extended clip!
Common sense tells us that this violence, death and
destruction cannot and will not be completely halted by the elimination of this
class of rifle and the extended magazines. However, it can only help. Just as putting a warning on the side of cigarettes didn’t
stop all from smoking, smoking is much less common than it was….the art of
romanticizing smoking was removed from movies, advertisements were taken off
television, all of this helped lessen smoking and thus cancer deaths in our
country. This all simply proves
that as Americans we need to ALL participate and work together to lessen
unnecessary death.
No one is fighting to eliminate the second amendment. As much as I despise guns, and I admit
that I do, I realize that hunting is a way of life to some. For some reason going out as a family
and killing animals as they try to peacefully exist is sport. (I know, that was laced with sarcasm,
sorry, can’t help it.) But, I
realize it is and I even realize, in spite of my feelings, that when not hunted
the deer make life crazy and dangerous for many of us driving around the country. So, although hunting to me seems a bit
barbaric, I can acquiesce to those who do and agree to disagree. It is a part of the diversity of our
culture that I love and admire.
I also understand how many might want a handgun in their home
to protect from invaders. I would
not want one in my home, but I understand that there are single women, people
living in dangerous neighborhoods, and probably most of my republican neighbors
who own handguns, guns which, they say, makes them feel safer.
A gun in my house would have the opposite effect. According to a recent National Public
Radio interview, having a gun in the home made the death of a member of that
household 43 times more likely than that gun being used for self-defense. That
same interview followed with more facts, out of 743 deaths from firearms, 398
occurred IN the home with the gun.
Of these deaths, 80% were suicides, 13% were murders, and 3% were
accidents. As it turns out, most
homicide victims are shot by either fellow family members or their roommates –
only 7 of the 398 deaths were self-defense, SEVEN!
Despite those statistics, if you feel you need or want a
handgun in your home, to protect from an invader, go for it. If you feel you need to carry a handgun
to protect yourself, okay. But,
you do not need a semi-automatic rifle with an extended clip. You just simply do not.
I just heard that Wayne LaPierre, recently stated that even
background checks were not something he could get on board with. He really said that. He said that criminals wouldn’t go
through the checks. Well, for that
matter, why have ANY laws?
Criminals won’t abide by them, so what the heck…..go for it people! Why have speed limits? Speeders won’t abide! Why make shoplifting illegal…..people
still steal!
That argument obviously doesn’t hold water, but he makes it
and lemmings repeat it.
There ARE common sense laws and common sense aid to this
horrific problem we have in our nation of gun violence. Of course no law or group of laws will
be 100% effective, but just as enforcing drunk driving laws have lessened
automobile deaths, common sense gun restrictions could lessen mass murders,
random, horrific, tragic, mass murders; and we have to do everything in our
power to lessen these tragedies as the next one might be in YOUR child’s
school, YOUR neighborhood movie theater or YOUR area mall.
Yes, the problem is vast and yes we need to look at keeping
violence in our video games and movies down, not glorifying the death and
destruction. Yes, we need to
better treat the mentally ill, but please note that just like the vast amount
of legal gun owners are not criminals, the vast amount of mentally ill are not
criminals either. Funny how
the gun lobby, the NRA, which makes money for every gun sold, has no problem having
a data base for those with mental problems but is against that same
registration for ALL gun owners – even those who buy through gun shows and
private sales.
It has been proven that background checks actually help two
fold, first, the obvious that it makes it that much harder to get your hands on
a weapon of death, and second, many with severe mental issues find it difficult to fill out
the forms on a background check.
They get befuddled and don’t do it. A win/win in keeping weapons out of the hands of those who
should not have them!
In conclusion, I am proud to stand with the majority of
Americans, even those in the NRA if not their “leader”, who are willing to look
at all angles of this horrific problem facing us all. The tragedy of gun massacres across our great country has to
be dealt with right away. If the
rhetoric could be lowered to a point where we aren’t arguing extremes, perhaps
something could be accomplished.
No one is saying all guns should be banned. However, just as machine guns were banned decades ago, with
no slippery slope coming to be, we can and should ban semi-automatic weapons
and extended magazines for only
when reloading was the man who killed so many in Colorado, stopped. If he had only had a 10 round magazine,
instead of a 30, how many more would be alive today and if one of them was your
parent, brother, sister or heaven forbid, child, yes, it would absolutely
matter.
It is time to prove that we are civilized, that we are intelligent,
and we are worthy of our role as being the shining light on the hill. We need to care more about our fellow
human beings than the rights of those who can’t even defend their ownership of
such destructive weapons. Yelling
the Second Amendment at a grieving father is not a reason. Defending against our government, a
government with nukes, drones, tanks, and every possible weapon of war, is no
argument. It is time for rationale
discussion, rationale laws and rationale thinking. The time for bluster and posturing ended with the deaths of
twenty 6 and 7 year olds in their first grade classroom.
Please see the following for a story worth the 11 minutes: http://www.storyofamerica.org/darren
