Newtown, Connecticut: An American Tragedy
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Where are we heading as a country? How did we evolve into a place where gun manufacturers care more about their profits than about the safety of their fellow citizens; where the NRA cares more about their power to influence legislation than about their responsibility for the safety of others; where legislators care more about their re-election than they do the lives of their constituents; and where private citizens are so intimidated by the gun culture that they are afraid to speak out?
Nicholas D. Kristof wrote in his New York Times column today, “The fundamental reason kids are dying in massacres like this one is not that we have lunatics or criminals — all countries have them — but that we suffer from a political failure to regulate guns.” We could begin to correct this problem by reinstating the federal ban on the manufacture of assault weapons, which was allowed to lapse in 2004. The 10-year ban was passed by Congress on September 13, 1994, and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton the same day. There have been multiple attempts to renew the ban, but no bill has reached the floor of either House of Congress for a vote since it lapsed.
In the same publication, columnist Gail Collins wrote, “This is all about guns — access to guns and the ever-increasing firepower of guns. Over the past few years we’ve seen one shooting after another in which the killer was wielding weapons holding 30, 50, 100 bullets. I’m tired of hearing fellow citizens argue that you need that kind of firepower because it’s a pain to reload when you’re shooting clay pigeons. Or that the founding fathers specifically wanted to make sure Americans retained their right to carry rifles capable of mowing down dozens of people in a couple of minutes.”
So, where do we go from here? It’s time to speak out and stand up for reasonable gun laws. One person’s protest is just like a drop of water in the ocean, but if thousands or millions of people speak out, that drop becomes a wave. You can talk to your friends and neighbors and get them involved. You can write to your State Representatives, your State Senators, your Representatives in Congress, your US Senators. You can send letters to the editor of your local newspaper. You can get information from such groups as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s organization, Mayors Against Illegal Guns. You can send a message to the President about the importance of beginning to deal the problem with gun violence by signing the petition at the address below.
If you believe that nothing is more important than saving American lives, it’s time to make waves.
Vinny
12:45 pm on Monday, December 17, 2012
Switzerland has one of the highest gun-ownership rates in the world and yet one of the lowest gun-related crime rates. How do you explain this?
http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/switzerland.asp
Jan Schmidt
2:33 pm on Monday, December 17, 2012
Did you even bother to read the link?
Every man is is trained to use the gun he is issued because he's required to be a member of the militia...
oh geeze - go read it - it isn't anything to hold up as an example!
Oedipus
9:03 pm on Monday, December 17, 2012
A. They are civilized in Switzerland
B. They have hate speech laws. American Conservatives would be locked up there.
One Man Wolf Pack
2:36 pm on Monday, December 17, 2012
Since laws have done so well with drugs and "undocumented workers" we should also pass a secure boarder bill that actually demand the military secure our boarders. If we can't stop drugs and people from crossing then all gun control will do is create a lucrative black market just like smuggling drugs and people...............
Oedipus
9:12 pm on Monday, December 17, 2012
"Boarders"! Hahahahaha that's funny.
Ricky W Kracker a.k.a. Diggy Swagga
8:25 pm on Monday, December 17, 2012
Obama's drones killed 39 school children in Pakistan. Where are the liberals crying for "sensible drone laws?"
Dozens of people die every weekend in inner city violence. Where is the liberal outrage?
But when it happens in white suburbia...
"Never let a crisis go to waste" and that is exactly what the liberals are doing, exploiting tragedy; how sickening.
Oedipus
9:07 pm on Monday, December 17, 2012
"Obama's drones killed 39 school children in Pakistan. Where are the liberals crying for "sensible drone laws?"
Dozens of people die every weekend in inner city violence. Where is the liberal outrage?"
They're out there Rick. You have to turn the channel from FoxNews and the radio dial from, Limbaugh, Hannity, Malkin and Savage and stop reading Ann Coulter's books to hear it Rick.
Proud Conservative
5:14 am on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
20 children died at Sandy Hook. Each day in this country 3500 innocent, unborn children die by way of abortion. Where's the outrage? Where's the "What's wrong with this country" crowd? Where's the "We need to do something" crowd? Why aren't they on TV saying how horrible it is to suck the brain out of an unborn child? Why aren't they on TV talking about these young lives being snuffed out before they even had a chance? 3500 more will die today. But you won't here it mentioned. It should be, however. To give you a little perspective, the number of innocent babies aborted today in the U. S. alone will be 175 times greater than the number of lives lost at Sandy Hook.
Steve From NH
7:24 am on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Okay, Proud Conservative, you're incensed at the number of abortions in this country. But where is your outrage over gun violence? All you can do is offer excuses and support for easy access to devices that are made solely for killing. Why don't YOU stop the hypocrisy?
Jane Bingum
7:03 am on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
@proud conservative not sure I would be proud writing an obscene reply comparing these two.
Thank you Ms Patton for advocating a joint effort in regaining the federal ban, but I also think we need to look at the mental challenges many parents are dealing with uncontrollable children. I believe it does start in the home and these parents who are afraid to ask for help or embarrassed should be advocating for their children. Every time we are faced with a tragedy like this..it is always the persons mental status that brings them to this horrific scene. When will we start addressing these issues as well as the gun laws? They are two issues which seem to always lead to killing...
Lenore Patton
8:32 am on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
@Jane Bingum, you're absolutely right. We do need to address both issues. Thank you for your insightful comment.
No Longer interested
8:45 am on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Right on Lenore
Vinny
1:27 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
@Jan and @Lenore,
I agree much needs to be done to limit access to guns and I absolutely agree a ban is in order on assault weapons that have no practical use in our society. My point above is that Switzerland seems to have found a proper balance in terms of allowing citizens to protect their property while providing them with necessary discipline and training through required military service.
I agree that the mental health of these sick individuals is something that certainly needs to be addressed and I would very much be in favor of banning all assault weapons and then legalizing marijuana, taxing it like we do tobacco and saving on the costs to prosecute and lock up offenders. I would then use the savings and revenue to pay down national debt, balance the budget on the state and national level and invest in increased identification and care for those with mental health problems.
I'm not a neoconservative zealot. I'm simply saying that a complete ban on guns is not likely the answer. With the proper education and training combined with the allocation of resources to identify and care for those with mental health problems, I think we can solve a lot of our troubles.
Richard C Barnes
11:25 am on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
I think most can agree "something needs to be done" because we all want to feel safe and more importantly we want to feel like our kids are safe but we also need to sit back and really think.
Take a minute and really think about some of the suggestions.
High capacity clips for instance. If we outlaw a 15 round clip and a killer like this one had to use 10 round clips would it have made any difference? He clearly reloaded while he was in the school. He had two handguns with him as well so even if someone attempted to charge when he ran out on the rifle he was still deadly. While it sounds good to say lets ban 15 round clips I don't see anything actually being accomplished.
And regarding banning certain types of guns or the "increasing firepower". The bullets used in this shooting are bullets many deer hunters consider to be too low a caliber for hunting because they wont kill the deer and instead leave them wounded and suffering.
Gun ban suggestions feel good and give us the feeling that it would stop this type of thing but when you stop and really think about the suggestions I don't see any actually accomplishing any real results.
Lenore Patton
4:59 pm on Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Okay Richard Barnes, if you don't think banning assault weapons will make much of a difference, what's your suggestion?
steve forte
11:09 am on Thursday, December 20, 2012
Fix crazy. Wanting to kill your fellow Americans is not normal. Untill we address that we will be doing nothing.
Richard C Barnes
12:19 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012
My suggestion is to look at this with a calm level head instead of reacting while we are still full of emotion. Any idea that is a good idea will be a good idea whether its discussed today, tomorrow or even a month from now.
Then I would consider actually looking at facts. Over the years and in the many different states we've tried different things. Which ones have resulted in less crime and which didn't?
The "assault weapons" ban in itself was silly when you actually take the time to educated yourself and find out what it was banning. For instance, the gun used in this shooting would have been banned but the exact same gun, holding the same number of bullets with a wooden stock would still have been legal. This killer could have killed the same number of kids using the alternate version just as easily and it wouldn't have been an "assault weapon".
One thing that actually worked in a city down south (and I apologize, I forget it's name) is a law that went the opposite direction. They required the head of every household to be trained in firearm safety and to own a gun. Violent crime dropped to far below the national average starting the very first year the law went into effect.
Laws that ban guns have had the opposite effect. England with it's total gun ban now has the highest violent crime rate in the civilized world, higher then in the US even.
steve forte
1:07 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012
Rich that was Kennesaw GA.
We need to stop looking at thios as a gun issue. The gun was only the delivery meathod.
We need to take a clos look at dr/patient confidentiality laws. In most cases like these the suspects shink knew more of what was going on in his life then anybody.
Parents also need to be more aware of their kids activities. When jr starts ripping the legs off of frogs while they are alive and trying to burn chipmonks with a propane torch that is not just " boys being boys" . Junior is on his way to becoming a nightmare, get him help.