Responding to yet another gun violence editorial…
I get a lot of periodicals. Frankly, I read their index and if the article(s) impress me I’ll read the articles.
I got a medical journal in today’s post and like many other editors, this one decided that it was important
for her to jump on the gun bandwagon. Actually, hers was better than most, but still leaned more away from
dealing with the real sources of violence than I would have liked. So I replied:
I’m glad to read that your comments were more balanced than most I read of late, especially in the liberal media.
We DO have a problem. Even though it partially manifests itself through the improper use of guns, it’s not per se a gun problem. It IS a VIOLENCE problem.
Guns have been around for a very long time. We used to even have shooting teams in schools and at scouting meetings. Kids would bring their own guns for target practice, have them in their cars/trucks, etc. I would
point you to recent comments by the Governor of Kentucky on this. I agree with his opinion, it’s not a gun problem(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31nHOYTSap4).
You referred to the events at Douglas High where CLEARLY had the FBI and local law enforcement been doing their jobs instead of being politically correct or trying to oust a sitting president instead of protecting students, these events may have been prevented. Law enforcement failed Douglas.
So, why do we of recent history have an increased violence issue? Why are people using violence as their means of choice? I don’t have the answers, but I do have a few questions and concerns:
Clearly the psychological impact of the massive violence that kids are inundated with in the media, on TV, in the movies, with incredibly violent video games HAS to have a negative impact on them. Clearly we can’t have a generation being raised on the evening murder du jour or playing violent games like “grand theft auto” (where killing cops and people is encouraged) and it not have a negative impact on them.
The massive degradation of the family unit clearly has a negative impact.
The lack of church attendance and respect for church values has a negative impact.
Lack of respect for life is a problem and lessening of the value of life clearly has to be impacted by how life’s
value has no value in what kids are being given/shown/presented/bombarded with in the media/movies/games/etc.
The media and authorities are looking for a quick and politically correct “out” for the problem. To them guns are the issue and removing guns will be the global solution to the problem. Well, history shows us that just doesn’t work. I would refer you to recent events in Australia where all guns were outlawed and in theory confiscated – violent crime soared because the criminals knew that the victims were defenseless. This continued until Aussie citizens obtained weapons on the black market and started being able to defend themselves. Also, look at the UK, where also firearms are outlawed – London recently surpassed NYC in the number of murders. Clearly, violence will find the tools it wants to do the deeds it will. The question remains, will you be able to defend yourself or your family when it does? Keep in mind that when second count, cops are minutes away. And we can’t expect them to be everywhere all the time. That’s just not possible.
Guns are inanimate objects. And if you took high school physics you know that an object at rest will stay there until acted upon by an external force. Period. That’s just a fact of life. Some people just need to learn to deal with that fact.
When we have a drunk driver committing a vehicular homicide do we blame Ford? Why not? We blame the gun! Do we blame the car dealer for selling the drunk the car? Why not? We blame gun manufacturers and vendors. Do we blame the AAA or other automotive associations for the events? Nope, but liberals will blame the NRA. Same thing goes for any other crime committed with a vehicle – robbery, theft, kidnapping, etc… With these crimes we correctly blame the CRIMINAL. The perpetrator of the crime. NOT the car… The only reason guns get blamed is because they don’t fit the politically correct agendas of left wing socialist media and mindsets that would rather not deal with the causes of the real issues. Now, some liberals will respond with “you have to have a license to drive a car”… No you don’t. Consider how many auto thefts there are each week…and how many people don’t have licenses yet drive – let alone those that drive without insurance which is another law issue.
In the medical world, we would liken this to the stupidity of thinking that of giving tylenol to a patient with brain cancer as the solution to their problems, while totally ignoring the causes of the disease. America and society needs to stop ignoring the causes of the violence disease, find them and deal with them. And quickly. This continued trend of dealing with the symptoms by thinking that getting rid of guns is the solution, is only going to kill our patient, our society, our fellow man, our kids and ourselves.
Pardon the pun, but there is no “silver bullet” here. It would more than appear that the causes of why we are here and having this discussion are many and will take time and effort to change. But, we need to deal with the causes of the violence as violence will use a baseball bat, knife, machette, steak knife or whatever tools it can do achieve it’s goals. And being one that likes not only baseball but a good steak, I’d hate to see the politically correct being allowed to misdirect us from a proper and correct solution.
I’m Don Rima, and that the view, From Where I Stand.
