An Open Letter to Lovers of the Gun

I wanted to share this letter....

In several threads, I've heard from members that violence is decreasing in the USA. I'm not certain where those statistics are coming from or how they define violence; but I think we will all agree that shootings at schools fall into the catagory of violence.

This article, letter, if you will, by William Rivers Pitt shares some easily verifible statistics on recent school shootings. He is citing facts.

truth-out.org...

I said this on New Year's Day: "In 2010, by comparison, there were nine school shootings in America that killed seven people. In 2011, there were eleven school shootings that killed nine people. In 2012, there were fourteen school shootings - including the massacres at Sandy Hook Elementary and Oikos University - that killed 43 people. In 2013, there were twenty-three school shootings that killed nineteen people. Nine, then eleven, then fourteen, then twenty-three. If the trend holds, we can look forward to maybe thirty or forty school shootings in 2014."
I was wrong. Seven school shootings in the first month of the year means we are on pace, if this keeps up, to have no less than 84 school shootings by the end of December.

And then, he gets upset (it is an op-ed after all - an opionion/editorial)

Yes, you, who love your guns.
You.
I would ask what is wrong with you, but I already know: you love your guns more than you love your child, or his child, or her child, or my child. You love your guns, period.
Prove me wrong, because you haven't yet.

I am sick of how you hide behind gun money, gobs and gobs of political gun money, while complaining about the influence of money in politics. If any other item in common use in America - like aspirin, or a car - was wasting people with the dreary regularity of guns, that item would be banned by congressional fiat...but it's guns, so the slaughter slogs on, even as you tell your friends you hate the influence of "special interests" in politics, because you're a fraud in Technicolor.

I used to love guns, grew up with them and had fun with them. When I became a parent, I read the literature and the statistics are clear - have a gun in your home - the chances of someone in that home dying by gun go up - and put away my guns forever.

I'm not against guns, I get the 'defense against the governmnet' argument (though I think it's pretty naive in todays world), but I certainly don't want anyone I love or even those I don't dying because a gun was a seemly easy answer.

I'll end with Mr. Pitt:

I would spare you that experience. Please spare me that experience.
It is not the anti-gun people who are going to make this right. It is the pro-gun people who know better, who see this slaughter for what it is, who will make this right.
Seven school shootings in 24 days.
See. Be disgusted. Do something.

Well you certainly sound like an easily impressionable sap. How would
Me deciding to do away with guns stop some other guy who is a psycho-path who won't do the same? Nah I'll keep my guns. also, The letter is just propaganda..

I like guns

They are wonderful machines that do pew pew most of the time

I also admire toilets, they work without electricity most of the times too

Is it something wrong with me according to you?

reply to post by FyreByrd


What is anyone supposed to get out of this?

We get it. You and others are afraid of an inanimate object.
Just because you and he, and others want to disarm, does not mean everyone else should.

All this is is the typical Anti-Gun rights emotional rant.

The only thing missing was some kids standing behind Mr. Pitt, and maybe Senator de Leon giving his explanation of firearms.

If you and others want to ban guns, get the 2nd Amendment changed the correct way. Instead of circumventing the process and doing it the "Progressive's" way.

My answer is to you and mr pitt: come and take our guns. What? That's not gonna happen? Oh, then this is a waste of everyone's time.

Its not people filled with love that are taking guns to school and killing children. The ones that do that are filled with hate.

Its not the gun that causes all the mayhem. Its the cowardly a-hole behind the trigger.

Its not him and his gun that causes these incidents to blossom lately, but the media coverage that incites other a-holes to do the same thing.

You want to lay blame for the rising crime spree with school massacres, blame the media.

Sue them.

I feel sorry for these people, I really do, but they and you will never dictate policy to me, NEVER. I am 100% behind the 2nd, which, without it, there is no 1st ammendment. You bleeding heart sissies do not get it and never will, and that will never be my problem, never. If you had a clue, in which there are serious doubts, you would put the blame where it REALLY belongs, with the parents of these children, not with a 238 year old document that will domino past your level of comprehension. You can yack all you want and my enlighten the weak minded single celled idiots, but to the awake patriots, we see the bs and call you on it. If these children are homicidal. in the true form, had no access to guns, they would use knives or similar, you gonna call for a ban on knives? baseball bats? and the list goes on and on....there will be no end to this and that needs to be understood. In reality, these two ammendments are the first and second for a real reason, just because you fail to see that for what it is does not make it someone else's problem, want my guns? come get them...

Cars kill waaay more people than guns!

Ban 'em Deano...

I always loved teh "if there's a gun in your home" statistic.

If there's a car in your driveway you increase your chances of getting in an accident.

If you eat a lot of rice you increase your chances of choking to death on rice.

If you have a furnace you increase your chances of dying in a furnace explosion.

If you have children you increase the chances that your child will die.

As a side note: Children Decrease Happiness

I'm a gun owner and fully appreciate the responsibility of owning a killing machine.

What astonishes me is the absolute psychotic, psycho/sexual love of guns. It's almost a defining personality trait for some people; the "gun owner" with it's accompanying political conservative paranoia and fear based mindset.

Get a #%^*) life why don't ya!

macman
reply to post by FyreByrd

 

What is anyone supposed to get out of this?

We get it. You and others are afraid of an inanimate object.
Just because you and he, and others want to disarm, does not mean everyone else should.

All this is is the typical Anti-Gun rights emotional rant.

The only thing missing was some kids standing behind Mr. Pitt, and maybe Senator de Leon giving his explanation of firearms.

If you and others want to ban guns, get the 2nd Amendment changed the correct way. Instead of circumventing the process and doing it the "Progressive's" way.

I do note that you are not disputing the facts: 1) the increasing school shootings or 2) that having a gun in your home increasing the chance that someone in that home will be wounded or killed by a gun.

That seems to be an emotional, as in not rational, position to take.

Yes I do get 'distrubed' (and confused) by people who based their decisions on emotion and not reason.

Nor do you present any rational reasons for keeping firearms such as protecting self and property (understandable) or protect yourself from your government (also understandable if somewhat naive).

I said nothing about banning 'guns' nor did Mr. Pitt in his piece. We both are expressing despair at this increasing violence in the countries schools. No solutions offered, just despair. I notice you offer no rational solutions either.

The day will most likely come when the anti-gun crowd will get their wish. And along with it, they will have their totalitarian police and nanny state in full force, to keep everyone safe from any thing, and any thought, that isn't allowed. When that day comes, and they finally have their "paradise". Many who are old enough, will look back and remember all the insane gun lovers who tried to warn them, what they were asking for was going to get them a lot more than what they wanted.

So......

Cars kill. Many kids have been killed because of cars......

And because I insist on owning a car.....I must love my car more than my own child?

Grow Up. Become "responsible"

I can name a hundred different things in my or anyone else house that can kill or maim a child (or adults for that mater).

It's called: put it up, lock it up, keep it out of reach, keep it under supervision.

It's also called: as soon as your child can understand, teach them about safety. Whether it is a gun, a pocket knife, a steak knife, a hot iron, chemical cleaners, prescription medication (oh the list goes on and on).

Disarming people will not solve one darn thing. People who want to kill, will do so. Period. Taking guns away from law abiding (and responsible) citizens does not disarm EVERYONE.

It will not disarm those who will still be able to obtain guns illegally. It will not keep a insane manic from building pipe bombs.

Take the knee jerk emotion out of the debate. Grow up and debate like an adult. With logic, facts and information.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


That is beside the point. It is a dangerous variable, I can take out of my life. It's more difficult to function without a car, rice, or....

I have no reasonable use for a firearm and therefore 'choose' not to have one in my home and thereby decrease my families odds of being the recepients of gun violence (official or not). And yes I do know it is still possible - but the odds are more in my favor and I like to think there is a 'karmic' component to it as well.

reply to post by olaru12


No matter where you go and what you do, there are extreme people and extreme views. there is a lot that I do not understand and most of that is people. You take someone whom has had a tramatic life changing event, in which if they could have had protective weapon that stopped this event, there life would be as it was, how do you think they feel about their weapon? But your view is way off base, I know plenty of owners and gun junkies, they have no connection as you describe, but they will not let you tell them how to live....

reply to post by FyreByrd


What is there to dispute?

The article,

It is a weak attempt to engage people in debating what ifs and maybes, where there is a right protected and guaranteed by a certain document.
It is basically another attempt, a different angle if you will, to work people towards disarmament. It is a clever way of going about an Antis agenda. Much like changing the stance from "No guns" to "common sense" and/or "sensible" gun safety measures.

Maybe, not definitely, maybe not having a gun will reduce something or other.

But, just as pointed out above, owning a car, by this rational, means I have a greater chance of being in a vehicle collision.

As for providing reason for owning a firearms.
This is the only reason that is necessary en.wikipedia.or...

Nothing else is needed to provide.

And as for solutions??? Return back to the original construct of the country and the 2nd amendment.

FyreByrd

I have no reasonable use for a firearm and therefore 'choose' not to have one in my home

Your choice. And yet no one us forcing you to change that choice.

Yet you and others want to force those that believe in the 2nd Amendment to follow your ideals.

Sounds very much like you want to be part of the ruling class.

reply to post by FyreByrd


That's fine. That's one of the great things about living in a free-ish country. You can choose not to have a gun and I can choose to have one.

All this circus over guilting people into agreeing with either of us is pointless.

Unfortunately too many people can't see that and spend an irrational amount of time harping on the life choices of others.

Your, (and fellow in Article) argument isn't making sense to me.

You claim that other members are telling you that overall violence is down, but ranting about gun violence in schools is up.

OK, so gun violence in school is up, but what about overall gun violence? Is that down overall?

This is just an anti gun rant, using the tragedy of school shootings.

Here in our Area, we have a private school, that has armed teachers, and the principle.
Guess how many school shootings we have had there?

I have to teach my granddaughter to responsibly shoot a gun. I won't teach my two grandsons, they are playing violent video games all the time and I can't trust them with a gun...so I will never teach them. You cannot put a gun in the hand of a young person who has been desensitized like that. If they snap even for a little while, they could be a problem. The way to address this problem is to get rid of the video games where kids interact with killing and fighting. Real martial arts teach self control, this is not taught in most violent games.