Last week, a gunman opened fire on people attending the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California. Three people, including a 6-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, were killed. Today's shooting, at an El Paso, Texas, Wal-Mart, has so far killed 20 people.
When
will enough be enough? The deaths of 20 innocent kindergarten students
and six teachers in Newtown, CT, weren't enough. The deaths of 58 people enjoying
an outdoor concert in Las Vegas weren't enough. The deaths of 49 people at a nightclub in Florida weren't enough. And I'd guess the
deaths of the people in an El Paso today won't be enough.
Nothing will be enough until Congress decides to put the American
public ahead of its payoffs from the NRA. They need to take their
thoughts and prayers and shove them where the sun don't shine.
And no, I'm not advocating taking people's guns away. But I seriously doubt that our founding fathers, when they wrote the 2nd amendment, ever envisioned allowing access by so many dangerous people to weapons capable of carrying out mass murder.
Don't give me the "Guns don't kill people. People kill people" argument. Have you heard of somebody killing 58 people with their bare hands, or with a knife? Of course not. Because only guns can so easily and quickly kill dozens of people in such a short time. And don't tell me that we should ban cars because some 40,000 people lose their lives in the US each year in car crashes. That is simply a ridiculous statement. There's a major difference between cars and guns. Motor vehicles are used to transport people and goods. Accidents happen for any number of reasons, including mechanical problems, weather and drunk driving. Guns, on the other hand, have but one purpose -- to kill. And no, people don't need an AR-15 or any other assault-style weapon for self defense or hunting.
Schools in the city where I live are now hiring armed security at middle and high schools. What's next, armed guards at shopping malls, churches and grocery stores? Or perhaps we will return to the days of the Old West, when everybody toted a gun. It appears that even in gun-obsessed Texas, there were no 'good guys with a gun" at the Wal-Mart who were willing or able to take out today's shooter.
The sad fact is that as long as politicians are willing to sell their souls to the gun lobby, nothing will change. 'Thoughts and prayers' have become nothing more than a joke, an empty platitude offered by those unwilling to do anything, no matter how small, to address this problem. The US is the only nation that is willing to sacrifice its citizens', and in particular, its children's, lives on the altar of the great gun lobby. How many more citizens will be sacrificed, how many more children will lose their lives, while Congress sits idly by, collecting its fat donations and watching yet more Americans die while going to school, worshipping or shopping?
UPDATE: I woke up Sunday morning thinking about the 20 people mourning their dead loved ones, only to see a headline that nine more people were slaughtered in Ohio. We are watching the fall of our country at the hands of those who value money over life, whiteness over darker skin, 'Christianity' over other religions. All this is happening at the hands of a president who, rather than trying to bring the country together, as past presidents of both parties have done, stokes the flames of hatred. And Congress watches the bodies pile up while it collects its blood money.
And no, I'm not advocating taking people's guns away. But I seriously doubt that our founding fathers, when they wrote the 2nd amendment, ever envisioned allowing access by so many dangerous people to weapons capable of carrying out mass murder.
Don't give me the "Guns don't kill people. People kill people" argument. Have you heard of somebody killing 58 people with their bare hands, or with a knife? Of course not. Because only guns can so easily and quickly kill dozens of people in such a short time. And don't tell me that we should ban cars because some 40,000 people lose their lives in the US each year in car crashes. That is simply a ridiculous statement. There's a major difference between cars and guns. Motor vehicles are used to transport people and goods. Accidents happen for any number of reasons, including mechanical problems, weather and drunk driving. Guns, on the other hand, have but one purpose -- to kill. And no, people don't need an AR-15 or any other assault-style weapon for self defense or hunting.
Schools in the city where I live are now hiring armed security at middle and high schools. What's next, armed guards at shopping malls, churches and grocery stores? Or perhaps we will return to the days of the Old West, when everybody toted a gun. It appears that even in gun-obsessed Texas, there were no 'good guys with a gun" at the Wal-Mart who were willing or able to take out today's shooter.
The sad fact is that as long as politicians are willing to sell their souls to the gun lobby, nothing will change. 'Thoughts and prayers' have become nothing more than a joke, an empty platitude offered by those unwilling to do anything, no matter how small, to address this problem. The US is the only nation that is willing to sacrifice its citizens', and in particular, its children's, lives on the altar of the great gun lobby. How many more citizens will be sacrificed, how many more children will lose their lives, while Congress sits idly by, collecting its fat donations and watching yet more Americans die while going to school, worshipping or shopping?
UPDATE: I woke up Sunday morning thinking about the 20 people mourning their dead loved ones, only to see a headline that nine more people were slaughtered in Ohio. We are watching the fall of our country at the hands of those who value money over life, whiteness over darker skin, 'Christianity' over other religions. All this is happening at the hands of a president who, rather than trying to bring the country together, as past presidents of both parties have done, stokes the flames of hatred. And Congress watches the bodies pile up while it collects its blood money.
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