Now I've gone and said it: It's NOT time for Gun Control, it's time for Gun elimination!!!
Yes, most everyone has a view on either stricter Gun Control laws or leaving Gun Control laws just as they are. It's that same fight over the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution, "the right to bear arms". So it's time for me to venture in a comment on the matter but with a new twist.
I never owned a gun in my life. I did own a BB rifle, but almost never used it. I never missed having a gun, quite honestly because I don't believe in owning them. In all the talk about this issue in the wake of the tragic deaths of those 20 children in Connecticut yesterday, why aren't we seeing more people with the courage to say that we shouldn't be allowed to even own a Gun! Let's face the truth here, if people couldn't own guns or have access to guns, there wouldn't be these mass murders. Using a gun to kill someone is much easier than facing a person with a knife to kill them. So don't let me here the arguments that the mentally ill would use a knife instead. Sure they would use a knife, but would they be able to kill 20 kids before they were stopped. Let's get real about this issue. It's time for a US Supreme Court ruling as to whether the second amendment has applicability today.
In the days when it was passed, we had a militia. I'm fine to having the National Guard and other Military organizations having them for their job. But I do like Japan's views on Gun ownership. They believe no one should own a "gun or guns or a sword or swords" and then they make exceptions from that position. They have a very peaceful society and by God, I would like one here too. People are afraid of standing up to others in disputes because they are always afraid the person might have a Gun. Standing up for yourself doesn't mean using violence but having a discussion of your objections. But the NRA wants you to believe you must have a gun or allow anyone to have any kind no matter what.
We're not good at Conflict resolution skills as a society. We need to teach our children in school about Conflict Resolution, as a required course, and not just taught in one grade. What's a lesson for a 7 or 10 year old would be different for what you might teach a 15 or 16 year old. It's time for a new approach about this issue. It's time we don't assume the 2nd amendment has application to the 21st Century. We don't really need to hunt for game. Supermarkets provide all the food we need and they are abundant. Just look at how large our children and people have become over the past 2 centuries! Would our country be that much worse off if all guns were confiscated, just like Gold was for a while in this country? I don't think so. I know, we would never get every gun. I agree. But we might really reduce these mass murders! To me that would be worth the inconvenience! If those men and women out there have a real need to have a gun, then maybe we need to institute forced Military service for everyone. Then you can play with your guns where we may need them. And after you've not only had the chance to use a gun and maybe even killed someone, you might actually decide you don't really need one after all.
Please leave a comment as I am interested in your viewpoint on this. Let's start the dialogue now!
I never owned a gun in my life. I did own a BB rifle, but almost never used it. I never missed having a gun, quite honestly because I don't believe in owning them. In all the talk about this issue in the wake of the tragic deaths of those 20 children in Connecticut yesterday, why aren't we seeing more people with the courage to say that we shouldn't be allowed to even own a Gun! Let's face the truth here, if people couldn't own guns or have access to guns, there wouldn't be these mass murders. Using a gun to kill someone is much easier than facing a person with a knife to kill them. So don't let me here the arguments that the mentally ill would use a knife instead. Sure they would use a knife, but would they be able to kill 20 kids before they were stopped. Let's get real about this issue. It's time for a US Supreme Court ruling as to whether the second amendment has applicability today.
In the days when it was passed, we had a militia. I'm fine to having the National Guard and other Military organizations having them for their job. But I do like Japan's views on Gun ownership. They believe no one should own a "gun or guns or a sword or swords" and then they make exceptions from that position. They have a very peaceful society and by God, I would like one here too. People are afraid of standing up to others in disputes because they are always afraid the person might have a Gun. Standing up for yourself doesn't mean using violence but having a discussion of your objections. But the NRA wants you to believe you must have a gun or allow anyone to have any kind no matter what.
We're not good at Conflict resolution skills as a society. We need to teach our children in school about Conflict Resolution, as a required course, and not just taught in one grade. What's a lesson for a 7 or 10 year old would be different for what you might teach a 15 or 16 year old. It's time for a new approach about this issue. It's time we don't assume the 2nd amendment has application to the 21st Century. We don't really need to hunt for game. Supermarkets provide all the food we need and they are abundant. Just look at how large our children and people have become over the past 2 centuries! Would our country be that much worse off if all guns were confiscated, just like Gold was for a while in this country? I don't think so. I know, we would never get every gun. I agree. But we might really reduce these mass murders! To me that would be worth the inconvenience! If those men and women out there have a real need to have a gun, then maybe we need to institute forced Military service for everyone. Then you can play with your guns where we may need them. And after you've not only had the chance to use a gun and maybe even killed someone, you might actually decide you don't really need one after all.
Please leave a comment as I am interested in your viewpoint on this. Let's start the dialogue now!
Labels: 2nd Amendment, children, Connecticut shooting, Gun Control, Gun elimination, Gun Lobby, gun restrictions, Japan, NRA
posted by Charles Amico at 10:51 AM
2 Comments:
We in the Inland Valley of SoCal have reacted:
A. writing to Biden et al in support of gun legislation with the most cogent letter a comparison of car vs. gun ownership.
B. local MoveOn group working on urging our mayors to join "Mayors Against Illegal Guns", asking Stater Bros. to fund a gun buyback, supporting CalPERS' divesting itself of weapons stocks, considering forming a local "Brady" chapter and coordinating with other progressives to plan a meeting with Senator Feinnstein or one of her staff.
We are pragmatic, at the least/most. After all, before redistricting we were represented in the CA Assembly by ?Donnally/ (spelling)? - whose gun was found in his carryon bag at our local airport and who was a founder of the local "Patriot" group.
Wise conclusion, Charles. My daughter Tamar, 29, took her Master's from Georgetown University's Dept. of Government, where she won a $30,000 Boren Fellowship, enabling her to study Arabic for 9 months in Jordan, Morocco and Lebanon.
Like her older brother and sister, she's worked hard academically to achieve the advanced degrees to help her achieve her life's goals. Among those, she definitely has the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on her bodhisattvic radar, having taken her MA in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University's Department of Government, where she also won a $30,000 Boren Fellowship allowing her to study Arabic for nine months in Jordan, with side study-trips to Lebanon and Morocco.
She later spent a year in Afghanistan working with an NGO helping Afghanis put their lives and communities back together, and since November, is still there but now with another firm, as Project Manager at MOBY Media Group (owned by News Corp.).
Like her older sister and brother, she's already a veteran world traveler, having visited parts of Abu Dhabi, Afghanistan, Argentina, Botswana, Cambodia, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Israel (a half-dozen times), Italy, Japan, Jordan, Peru, South Korea, Lebanon, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
As you're supremely well aware, our generation is leaving theirs a staggering number of monumental problems to solve, and it will take many of them functioning at genius level just to have a chance of sorting out this Rubik's Cube we're bequeathing them.
Keep up the good fight, C. I always love reading your mature insights, plus your courage to share them (especially the sanity of finally banning guns in America). Big Love and Peace of mind; your longtime friend and karmic brother who seconds that statement, having been a highly-trained killer as a paratrooper for three years in America's famed 82nd Airborne Division (two years in Asia). . .Dennis
Post a Comment
<< Home