I am watching live coverage of the ongoing shooting in San Bernadino, California, even as I write. Fourteen dead so far and counting. How long, O Lord, will it take for Americans to realize we have a problem with gun violence? The cost of our gun idolatry is becoming so high that it is incomprehensible . And the American public’s refusal to accept that we are suffering from a “disease unto death” is stupefying. Since we, the people, refuse to take any meaningful action in the face of this domestic threat, while bowing at the altar of “gun rights,” we bring into question the very character of our nation. “God help us!” as we, clearly, are incapable of helping ourselves.
So well put Charles.
as long at it is white men shooting people – we won’t do anything.
Thank you Charles for putting words on what so many of us have been feeling for a long time.
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Charles, no matter what is done to ban guns, etc. the bad guys will always have a way to end decent lives (ie 9/11 with box cutters). I have given this a lot of thought recently like sll of you have and have not come up with a good resolution except by example and a government who are not cowards. Our society is so afraid to do anything to offend anyone that is what scares me the most.
maybe so but can we at least make it a little harder? I am not opposed to guns – have them. But this is ridiculous. Assault weapons, etc No checks – no training – nothing. Other countries do it – we can too.
We need open carry laws in every state. We need to do away with the gun free zones. Criminals will not pay attention to gun restrictions and welcome additional restrictions being placed on citizens for it makes them easy targets. Yes, we are capable of taking care of ourselves but you want to take away this ability. To take away our guns is just the first step in taking away all our freedoms. The emphasis should be focused on catching and punishing those who do harm to others.
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I totally agree with you, Chuck. But a majority of voters do want sensible gun legislation. The problem is wider. It reaches isn’t the safe districts of the incumbents because of gerrymandering. The GOP has a lock on things and they don’t care of a majority of people want a change. It is gridlock in both House and Senate.
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We have more “freely” carried guns than any society on earth. More guns is NOT the solution!
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No one said anything about ‘taking away’ one’s gun rights. But the 2nd Amendment clearly says “well-regulated.” Most law enforcement folks I know oppose the idea of open carry.
Leo – if you think you can have a shoot out with terrorists and prevail – this is not upheld by any facts.
Your comment? Dead on. Really.
I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes from The Lion in Winter, with Katherine as the Queen Eleanor, wife of Henry II: “Prince John: A knife! He’s got a knife!
Eleanor: Of course he has a knife, he always has a knife, we all have knives! It’s 1183 and we’re barbarians! How clear we make it. Oh, my piglets, we are the origins of war: not history’s forces, nor the times, nor justice, nor the lack of it, nor causes, nor religions, nor ideas, nor kinds of government, nor any other thing. We are the killers. We breed wars. We carry it like syphilis inside. Dead bodies rot in field and stream because the living ones are rotten. For the love of God, can’t we love one another just a little – that’s how peace begins. We have so much to love each other for. We have such possibilities, my children. We could change the world.
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You can repeat it as often as you want, but there is a direct correlation between avaiability of assualt weapons particularly and the number of deaths by gun violence. This does not happen in countries where guns are less wdiely available, and in countries where some controls have been enacted, like Australia, gun deaths have plummeted. Check it out: http://www.businessinsider.com/australia-gun-control-shootings-2015-10
Facts matter.
Did you hear that on Fox News an analyst said that the killings in California are “a literal war on Christmas….”
Then how do you explain the success of Australia’s policies. They have internet, movies, games and so on just like we do. We have no problem with registering our cars, mandantory driver’s tests, speed limits, controls on persecription drugs, and so on … what is so special about guns that some reasonable safety controls can’t be helpully enacted. Your argument amounts to saying that if we impose limits on driving under the influence of alcohol or enforce speed limits, people will find a way of driving dangerously anyway. After all, it is people who cause accidents, not cars.
And I do think it is okay to infringe on people’s rights to own or use guns in ways that harm others. Why would your point of view not allow people, for example, racist or homophobic groujps from arming themselves with canons, tanks, missiles and other weapons of war? What justifies infringing on one’s “rights” to arm oneself with a nuclear weapon for that matter.
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