A very worthwhile read from Godless Liberal Homo
There has been a proverbial elephant in the living room of the corporate media's coverage of the Binghamton shootings: the role of the NRA and other gun control opponents in making the whole thing happen.
If our country was responsible enough to ban private gun ownership, very few of these shootings would happen. The guns simply would not be available. Yet, the corporate media censor this fact and censor that responsibility of the NRA and other gun control opponents for these shootings.
In the real world, there simply is no possible way to support private gun ownership without enabling every crime committed with guns. That includes all of the gay bashings, robberies, rapes, and murders that are committed with guns. You are putting the guns in the hands of the criminals if you support gun ownership.
In 2004, over 29,000 people in this country were killed by guns (lower statistics are generally limited to homicides or exclude suicides). To put this in perspective, this is comparable to the deaths in over nine September 11 attacks. Over 64,000 people were injured with guns.
The issue of guns being used for suicides is especially troubling. Unlike most methods of committing suicide, the rapid finality of gunshots makes it impossible for people to change their minds.
The Mumbai attacks show us that guns can be quite effective terrorist weapons. However, the level of gun terrorism on the streets of the US is far greater than that in those horrific attacks.
If you think that you are a responsible gun owner, think again. One of the main sources for guns on our streets is stolen guns. By owning guns, you are increasing the supply of illegally available guns without even realizing it.
If you wonder "what kind of people" are responsible for the Binghamton attacks and you support private ownership, you can discover what one of them is like by looking in the mirror. No matter how much you try to deny or rationalize what you are doing, you have your share of the responsibility. That doesn't just apply to the extremists at the NRA, who are playing a leading role in the slaughter. It applies to anyone who opposes banning guns.
By the way, "gun safety" is an oxymoron. All guns are dangerous. The only way to have safety from firearms is to get rid of the things.
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2 years ago
Well, this gentleman is certainly entitled to his opinions, even opinons so replete with over-generalizations as these are. We see over 40,000 people a year killed in automobile accidents, yet nobody advocates banning automobiles. The last time I looked at a domestic accident statistical chart I think over 9,000 people a year die from falling off ladders, yet we don't require people to be licensed to use a ladder.
ReplyDeleteWhen guns are taken to school and kids are murdered, for whatever "reason" it is a terrible thing indeed, yet these incidents are thankfully relatively rare. Most of the gun-related deaths in this country seem to be criminals killing other criminals, and personally I have a hard time worrying about that.
I own guns. I hunt. The men in my family, including myself, are members of the NRA. My father and both grandfathers happen to be surgeons and physicians. They hunt and own guns. I don't think we're any more responsible for domestic gun deaths than the people working at McDonalds are responsible for high colesterol or heart disease.
Jay: Thanks for the mention.
ReplyDeleteJosh: Cars, unfortunately, are necessary, though people like myself work to expand public transportation in order to prevent the deaths associated with the automobile. Guns in the hands of private citizens, on the other hand, serve no constructive purpose.
The reality is that you and the rest of the gun control opponents put the gun in the hands of the shooter in Binghamton. You may not want to face that fact, but it still remains.