The latest incident of gun violence in America got in the public spotlight only because a Senator, and a judge were among the victims. The truth is that 79 people are killed by firearms in America every single day; ten of those people being children.
John Hopkins University Center of Gun Policy and research, 1997/1998, from http://stophandgunviolence.com/factsasp
And as gun manufacturers have obviously bought our politicians, because of no campaign finance reform, we have been assured by every pundit from both sides of the isle that there will be no federal gun control laws ever. There is no hope just over the horizon and no light at the end of our tunnel of despair. Oh I have heard the suggestion by a politician of only 10 bullets in a clip instead of 30 - wow that makes me feel a lot safer. I would much rather be shot only 10 times than 30 wouldn’t you? But we have also been assured that, that laughable solution to gun violence won’t have a chance of becoming law.
Here is an interesting statistic for all mothers and fathers who have an obsession with guns: “Kids in America are 12 times more likely to be killed by a gun than kids in 25 other industrialized nations combined. The overall firearm-related death rate among U.S. children aged less than 15 years was nearly 12 times higher than in 25 other industrialized countries combined.”2
2The latest incident of gun violence in America got in the public spotlight only because a Senator, and a judge were among the victims. The truth is that 79 people are killed by firearms in America every single day; ten of those people being children.
And as gun manufacturers have obviously bought our politicians, because of no campaign finance reform, we have been assured by every pundit from both sides of the isle that there will be no federal gun control laws ever. There is no hope just over the horizon and no light at the end of our tunnel of despair. Oh I have heard the suggestion by a politician of only 10 bullets in a clip instead of 30 - wow that makes me feel a lot safer. I would much rather be shot only 10 times than 30 wouldn’t you? But we have also been assured that, that laughable solution to gun violence won’t have a chance of becoming law.
Here is an interesting statistic for all mothers and fathers who have an obsession with guns: “Kids in America are 12 times more likely to be killed by a gun than kids in 25 other industrialized nations combined. The overall firearm-related death rate among U.S. children aged less than 15 years was nearly 12 times higher than in 25 other industrialized countries combined.”2
So President Obama said the only thing he could - nothing really. He did his best to try to transform the unfortunate victims into heroes. He stated concerning the six dead victims of the Gifford’s shooting, “That not only soldiers on battlefields are heroes.” Well, as a nonviolent person, I do not believe that our soldiers who are in foreign countries murdering strangers qualify for heroism. I do not think that people who embrace violence or are murdered by violence have anything to do with heroism. Because our soldiers do not have any idea of what they are doing or especially of why, and the victims of the most recent shooting did not see it coming let alone would they have volunteered to be targets so they could euphemistically be called heroes. No, it was just one more avoidable tragic incident because gun manufacturers have kidnapped the minds of too many Americans. And the men of the NRA are not worth mentioning because they only know what they are told by gun manufactures regarding why they need more guns. They are puppets of the gun manufacturers whether they know it or not. I would not say they are men who think for themselves or think deeply about anything.
And lets see, besides healing and heroism we were suppose to “celebrate” the lives of the mot recently deceased by firearms. But how better would it have been if we had protected those precious lives with gun laws like other industrialized nations have?
So the only thing left to decide is how many times do we want to come together and heal? As 79 people are murdered every single day, why not have an official, once-a-month coming together to celebrate all victim’s lives and heal? I mean why should we celebrate the lives of only a few of the victims of guns here and there sporadically. Don’t all the victims (I mean heroes) deserve the same old platitudes? The way we have agreed to live with no gun laws reminds me very much of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. Only if I
remember correctly, the people of her small town U.S.A. only volunteered one person each month to death by a lottery. We seemed to have collectively agreed that we can afford to volunteer many more lives regarding our love affair with guns; at least 79 every
day. Our chances of someday winning this gun victim lottery are reasonable.
Seriously, what do I suggest? Well, first of all, don’t travel to the states of AZ or VT as they have 0 gun laws in their states. And if you don’t feel safe in your home or car, then get yourself a large dog or two. The chance that you or your children will shoot yourselves with a large dog is 1,000 less than with a firearm. And don’t get a high-strung dog such as a Doberman pincher or a pit bull terrier. No, get yourself a mild-mannered dog like a Labrador or golden retriever. They get the same job done with a much better record of being able to distinguish their owners from intruders. May the peace of the Goddess be with you and some of Her common sense also.
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