I was all set to start my holiday gift guide and tell readers about all the stuff they should put under there trees, when a tragedy so devastating and heart-wrenching hit America, that I was unable to think about much else. It has been a few days since I have even been up to posting, as I can’t stop weeping over the tragic murders of 27 people, 20 of whom were small children just 6 and 7 years old, excitedly getting ready for Christmas! I am alternatively, angry, sad, and sick to death of the spate of unnecessary deaths that occur daily because of a small, but powerful group of wingnuts, who have taken the meaning of the 2nd Amendment far too literally. The Founding Fathers never could have predicted that this amendment, designed so that the Government would never be able to reign tyrannically over the populace, would result in 32 American deaths every week. Now instead of the Government being able to command a reign of terror over the citizenry, the NRA and the gun lobby do!
Some more startling statistics:
There are more than 129,817 federally licensed firearms dealers in the United States, according to the latest Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives numbers (as of Aug. 1). The US has the highest gun ownership rate in the world – an average of 88 per 100 people
With less than 5% of the world’s population, the United States is home to roughly 35–50 per cent of the world’s civilian-owned guns
In 2010 the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) ran 16,454,951 background checks for firearms purchases. Only a small number of these purchases (78,211 or 0.48 percent) were denied.
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, between 2006 and 2010 47,856 people were murdered in the U.S. by firearms, more than twice as many as were killed by all other means combined.
In the words of dear President Obama, “we can not tolerate this anymore,” and “surely we can do better than this.” There is zero reason for anyone, including the police or military, to own or use assault weapons. Had Lanza had to reload, a lot more children and adults would’ve survived his crazy rampage.
I was appalled to see the few Republicans that even bothered to show up on the Sunday morning shows – “Meet the Press” said they all refused– try to spin it by demonizing mental ill people and deflecting the unnecessary availability of these weapons of mass destruction. While the handling of the mentally ill is definitely a component to stopping these mass killings, their access to semi-automatic weapons is the bigger problem. In addition, the cops, who we reasonably expect not to be mentally ill, also have murdered tons of innocent people with these weapons. Many people also have expressed sympathy for Lanza’s Mom, who was also slaughtered by her son. But while I do view her death as a tragedy, I question her judgment and some of the blame lies with her. Collecting a cache of semi-automatic weapons in a household, where a seriously mentally ill person lived, was a recipe for a tragedy. It has been reported that she even taught him how to shoot and took him to ranges. Yet she was ready to have him committed, so she knew he was unstable. So while, I count her as a victim too, it is hard to. Again, if we had had a ban on these weapons, she would not have been able to buy them in other states and bring them home. And various people on my Facebook have been going on about God’s will and other such nonsense. The only way God is involved in this atrocity is that he gives us the intuition to know when it is time for action against evil and that time is now!
Enough is enough! In memory of: Charlotte Bacon (b. Feb. 22, 2006), Daniel Barden (b. Sept. 25, 2005) Rachel Davino (b. July 17, 1983) Olivia Engel (b. July 18, 2006) Josephine Gay (b. Dec. 11, 2005) Ana M. Marquez-Greene (b. April 4, 2006) Dylan Hockley (b. March 8, 2006) Dawn Hochsprung (b. June 28, 1965) Madeleine F. Hsu (b. July 10, 2006) Catherine V. Hubbard (b. June 8, 2006) Chase Kowalski (b. Oct. 31, 2005) Jesse Lewis (b. June 30, 2006) James Mattioli (b. March 22, 2006) Grace McDonnell (b. Nov. 4, 2005) Anne Marie Murphy (b. July 25, 1960) Emilie Parker (b. May 12, 2006) Jack Pinto (b May 6, 2006) Noah Pozner (b. Nov. 20, 2006) Caroline Previdi (b. Sept. 7, 2006) Jessica Rekos (b. May 10, 2006) Avielle Richman, (b. Oct. 17, 2006) Lauren Russeau (b.June of 1982) Mary Sherlach (b. Feb. 11, 1956) Victoria Soto (b. Nov. 4, 1985) Benjamin Wheeler (b. Sept. 12, 2006) Allison N. Wyatt (b. July 3, 2006) and all the other victims of these senseless killings with these unnecessary weapons, including Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell, I intend to do everything I can to create my own gun lobby. We have got to get these weapons off the streets and out of the hands of crazy people on every level, including the police! NO ONE should be able to or needs to fire dozens of rounds at anyone. We are now talking 20 little children, just babies, at Christmas time! I did not vote for the NRA. I voted for Congress people and a President, that I expect to do what is best for the American people on all matters. And I intend to hold them accountable to do so. I would love to see President Obama be as vigilant on this issue as he was on getting us health care. Because it is just as important.
To join the fight go to: http://www.bradycampaign.org/
