my husband, like many of our neighbors, is a hunter. i'm thankful that he keeps our freezer stocked with enough meat to feed us all year, but something tells me that this aspiring politico means something else by proclaiming himself to be "100% pro-second amendment."
this sign makes a few assumptions about the core values of my neighbors and me, and while i can't speak for them, i'll certainly speak for myself. when i read the constitution and the bill of rights, no where do i see that americans are endowed with the unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of military-grade automatic assault-style weapons for personal use. nor do i think that requiring background checks or even waiting periods encroaches on anyone's constitutional right to bear arms; instead they serve to keep our children and communities safe and prevent weapons from getting into the hands of criminals and people like the mentally ill virginia tech shooter.
food for thought from the children defense fund's 2008 report, Protect Children, Not Guns:
According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3,006 children and teens were killed by firearms in 2005, the first increase since 1994 and the first rise in gun deaths since Congress allowed the Assault Weapons Ban to expire in 2004.so to mr. russell, aspiring congressman, i sincerely hope that my neighbors send a message on november 4 that while we may love our guns, we love our kids, families, and communities more.
The number of children and teens in America killed by guns in 2005 would fill 120 public school classrooms of 25 students each.
In 2005, 69 preschoolers were killed by firearms compared to 53 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
Since 1979, gun violence has snuffed out the lives of 104,419 children and teens in America. Sixty percent of them were white; 37 percent were black.
The number of black children and teens killed by gunfire since 1979 is more than 10 times the number of black citizens of all ages lynched in American history.
The number of children and teens killed by guns since 1979 would fill 4,177 public school classrooms of 25 students each.
3 comments:
Excellent observations. Logic, reason and the history of violence are too often subjugated to the notion that unfettered access to firearms is the greatest good.
The "russel brigade" part scared the fool out of me! Great post.
Sobering and well written. I always hate the retort that "guns don't kill people, people kill people" people with guns can and do kill more people faster and with less for thought. I look forward with longing to the PEACEABLE KINGDOM.
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