the mentally ill cho and guns
the wacko, cho, who killed all those people in virginia had been found "mentally ill" by a psychiatric hospital where he had been commited against his will for "bothering two women". (quotes are from washington post) the article also says that the hospital found he was not an "imminent threat" and was released. seems to me that someone who has been declared mentally ill should not be allowed to buy a hand gun. the word, 'imminent,' means 'not right now' but insinuates 'could be later." in other words, they found cho wouldn't go out and be a danger to himself or others at that very time but could be in the future. this should be more than enough to stop the purchase. but no. thanks to the IRA and their cohorts in congress, no problem with cho buying weapons that are for only one use--to kill human beings. nor, thanks to our cowboy president, can anyone sue the gun store owner or the gun manufacturer. (that is a new law passed under the republican administration in, i think, 03.)
for a very well written opinion on guns i would suggest you read ELAYNE BOOSLER'S post on her blog.
she points out that in the war in iraq a little over 3300 american soldiers have been killed since 2003. in that same period 120,000 americans here at home have been killed by gun violence and asks where is the outrage. and that is a good fucking question.
and i say this as a gun owner. i have a WWII german pistol and a russian rifle that i inherited from my dad. i also have another pistol and rifle that i bought when i lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere and we had mojave green rattlesnakes and packs of coyotes on our property.
there are no simple answers to gun violence in america. outlawing guns, as nice and utopian as that may sound, would not work. why? millions of people own guns. 98% of those people are law-abiding citizens who bought a LEGAL piece of property. they don't go out and rob and kill with those guns. would someone suggest that we have a round-up of all those guns? and after watching bush and gang erode our constitution (the second admendment is about militias, regardless of what the NRA says, and that has been upheld by the courts and is understood by anyone who understands the english language. it is in the comma's stupid. so i am not talking about that part of the constitution) i believe the federal government under bush is more dangerous than other internal or external threat. i worry more about bush declaring martial law in 2008 and invalidating any elections than i worry about citizens owning guns.
all of that being said, there must be some kind of serious checking of backgrounds before anyone can buy a hand gun. automatic weapons must be banned and serious penalties for anyone caught with one. anyone buying a gun should be required to take a gun safety course. guns are not toys; they are incredibly dangerous.
guns have been a part of american life since the very beginning of our country. we cannot be compared to japan or any european country because of that history. for most of our history we were an agricultural country and on farms, everyone had a gun. as we moved west, guns went with us, they had to, it was lawless and dangerous country out there and you only had yourself to depend on. so for hundreds of years americans have been armed and you cannot deny that part of our collective history.
until we have an open debate about guns without the shrill voices from the extremes we will have many more columbines and virginia techs. what does it take for us to get serious about gun violence in america? or for that fact, violence in general? and violence by the young. seems that most gun violence is commited by people, usually males, who are under the age of 25. there was a fight at a high school here in las vegas yesterday where one of the "kids" pulled out a gun. one of the first steps we could take is getting the guns out of the hands of kids. when i was young, (god, i sound old) i had many a fight. they were with fists and feet. no one, and i mean no one, used a weapon. somewhere along the line that has changed. violence seems to be part of our culture. from "extreme-fighting" on tv to "shock and awe" on a defenseless country to kids shooting kids violence is everywhere, on the screen, on the tube, on the radio, (on tv, i can say, "i would like to kill that guy" but i cannot say "i would like to fuck that woman." -- one of those statements is an unnatural thought and one is a natural thought. guess which one we ban?)
i don't know the anwers other than we need more fucking and less killing. do you? i would like to hear your thoughts. post comments.
for a very well written opinion on guns i would suggest you read ELAYNE BOOSLER'S post on her blog.
she points out that in the war in iraq a little over 3300 american soldiers have been killed since 2003. in that same period 120,000 americans here at home have been killed by gun violence and asks where is the outrage. and that is a good fucking question.
and i say this as a gun owner. i have a WWII german pistol and a russian rifle that i inherited from my dad. i also have another pistol and rifle that i bought when i lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere and we had mojave green rattlesnakes and packs of coyotes on our property.
there are no simple answers to gun violence in america. outlawing guns, as nice and utopian as that may sound, would not work. why? millions of people own guns. 98% of those people are law-abiding citizens who bought a LEGAL piece of property. they don't go out and rob and kill with those guns. would someone suggest that we have a round-up of all those guns? and after watching bush and gang erode our constitution (the second admendment is about militias, regardless of what the NRA says, and that has been upheld by the courts and is understood by anyone who understands the english language. it is in the comma's stupid. so i am not talking about that part of the constitution) i believe the federal government under bush is more dangerous than other internal or external threat. i worry more about bush declaring martial law in 2008 and invalidating any elections than i worry about citizens owning guns.
all of that being said, there must be some kind of serious checking of backgrounds before anyone can buy a hand gun. automatic weapons must be banned and serious penalties for anyone caught with one. anyone buying a gun should be required to take a gun safety course. guns are not toys; they are incredibly dangerous.
guns have been a part of american life since the very beginning of our country. we cannot be compared to japan or any european country because of that history. for most of our history we were an agricultural country and on farms, everyone had a gun. as we moved west, guns went with us, they had to, it was lawless and dangerous country out there and you only had yourself to depend on. so for hundreds of years americans have been armed and you cannot deny that part of our collective history.
until we have an open debate about guns without the shrill voices from the extremes we will have many more columbines and virginia techs. what does it take for us to get serious about gun violence in america? or for that fact, violence in general? and violence by the young. seems that most gun violence is commited by people, usually males, who are under the age of 25. there was a fight at a high school here in las vegas yesterday where one of the "kids" pulled out a gun. one of the first steps we could take is getting the guns out of the hands of kids. when i was young, (god, i sound old) i had many a fight. they were with fists and feet. no one, and i mean no one, used a weapon. somewhere along the line that has changed. violence seems to be part of our culture. from "extreme-fighting" on tv to "shock and awe" on a defenseless country to kids shooting kids violence is everywhere, on the screen, on the tube, on the radio, (on tv, i can say, "i would like to kill that guy" but i cannot say "i would like to fuck that woman." -- one of those statements is an unnatural thought and one is a natural thought. guess which one we ban?)
i don't know the anwers other than we need more fucking and less killing. do you? i would like to hear your thoughts. post comments.
posted by Ron Shock | 10:00 AM
5 Comments:
Well, as I alluded to previously, I advocate rocks over guns. Rocks are a natural defense, they don't require a waiting period, you can't do ballistics on a rock, you can ward off an attacker or some over-zealous femme fatale and then you can just toss it away and it becomes well, just another rock. When the politicians begin debating rock control, then I will worry.
And what are they talking about today in D.C. instead?
McCain's advocating an idea that all college buildings should be accessible only by using swipe cards. He's pretty adamant about it.
How the fuck would that have done a goddamn bit of good Monday? The shooter was a student, and so he would have HAD A FUCKING SWIPE CARD.
I'm all in, more fucking and less killing.
And maybe, just maybe we should spend more money helping the mentally ill because this is the core of the problem. A ban on guns would not have prevented this as well as compassion and understanding would have.
Exactly. And hearing all the fucking outcry about who's to blame -- because that's what we have to do, we have to make sure every living student, every dead person, every administrator, every parent, every campus police officer making $9 an hour is accosted with so much blame you'd think they gave that assbitch his bullets and handed him a map of campus -- just makes the media, politicians and most observers look like morons.
"How could they let this happen? Why wasn't he stopped?"
Because, uh, he had a FUCKING GUN and they didn't. End of discussion. Next question.
Gah!
It’s interesting to see how society becomes more immune to the violence with each event. Remember the guy in Texas I think in the tower that was a blow to country Dow dropped and all ever since each event though perhaps more horrific seems to only attract surface concern for a brief period and then everyone moves on it seems to me at least to be a desensitizing to violence. Or nobody really gives a shit because they are still alive and feeling secure.
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