Tuesday, October 24, 2006


a sad state of affairs.....

For the past week I have been looking up the statistics on gun control and anything related to the issues of guns. Needless to say, I would have to live three lifetimes to get all the information out there, nevermind all the changing stats that come up everyday. It is an issue that many talk about, whether they are pro or con, and an issue that sparks loads of emotions for either side of the ballot for gun control. The subject also brings out some of the most diversified arguments for owning a gun I've ever seen.

Topping the list: the 2nd amendment. One cannot even bring up the issue of gun control without someone countering with a debate that it is "the right" of every man to bear arms. Without the 2nd amendment securely in place, our country would immediately resort to a Totalitarian state, and the government would then swoop in and take over the masses.... as did the Nazis against the Jews during the 1930's. Yeah, excuse me while I don't quite fall into that realm of thinking. Given the problems they are having in Washington, I hardly find that likely.... but it is a stand that gun-users use most often. Personally I think our government is doing more damage economically, and can't see their way out of a paper bag with both sides open.... but that's an argument for another day.

More statistics showed that even with programs in place to yank the guns off the streets, or programs in place for exchanges, it still did not reduce the numbers of crime all that much. Criminals were not the ones handing in the guns, as they hardly had any use of the $200.00 voucher from Target (as Massachusetts tried) to do so. Folks who participated in the exchange only went to the nearest Walmart and purchased a newer gun. So that program, although nice in it's efforts, goes unrewarded if someone really wants to carry a gun.

This brought up the issue of criminals being the only persons who would have guns, and how would one defend themselves in an attack? And here I found something very interesting. Polled in a prison (don't ask me which one, as I read so many articles on this, I just can't remember now), prisoners who used a gun to rob, kill, or rape said that they would not have had the kahunas to pull off a stunt IF they didn't have the gun in their hand in the first place. Some did admit that if they didn't have a gun, they could or would have used a knife.... they were just that hell-bent on the crime, but the majority of criminals preferred having a gun in their hand, as it empowered like nothing other.


And that is the whole thing in a nutshell: empowerment. For some reason you stand a better chance of warding off an attack if you had a gun of your own. After all, the playing field has evened up a bit, right? Ah, well, perhaps so.... but I still find that a sad state of affairs.
I am, and will always be anti-gun. I find no practical use for weapons, and find them destructive and counter-productive for a peaceful society. I find it hard for the United States to profess to the world that we are a "peace-loving society", when we have such a fascination with weapons.

Oh sure, I read all the arguments for reasons why we need to be toting guns.... go to wikipedia and they have them listed nicely. It still didn't change my mind.... it only made me sadder to think that the enemy was us.

In writing this post, I am not out to offend anyone who does have a legitimate license as well as education on how to handle and store a weapon. It is your private right to do as you please, after all, you are protected by the 2nd amendment on this issue. I only hope to never meet up with you when you are pissed off at the world in a moment of passion or despair, or in a moment when you are being robbed and I'm caught in the middle of the gunfire.

Too bad we don't live in a time when we could actually give peace a chance.

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Ellen, this is a controversial subject, I admire you for sharing your opinion. But...(did you see that "but" coming?) One thing you didn't bring up was that some gun owners use their guns for sport only. I'm personally against hunting because I love animals and don't need them for survival; but I love the sport of target shooting and trap and skeet shooting. Its a family tradition that dates back to my great-great grandparents.

I have a gun safe and don't keep ammo in the house...I buy it as needed at the shooting range.

I would only carry a gun for protection if I lived in a dangerous area and had to be alone at night.

I am against violence, I am for peace and I own a gun.

8:16 PM  
Blogger Ellen said...

barbara~
Yeah, I knew you owned a gun, and it made me think twice about even posting this. I do not wish to offend those who do own guns, as it wasn't my original intent. I only wrote it to voice my opinion about guns in general.

If more people were responsible as you are, most of the stats on the subject would be moot. What scares me, is that the general populace does not use guns for sporting, but rather as a means of protection only....and with the criminal element, as a means of life only. That's what scares the bejeepers out of me. I might be buying a pack of gum at the local BP station on the corner, and be caught right in the middle of a hold-up.

The state of Alabama has Trade Days (something very similar to yard sales), and you can buy a gun right off a table.... no form of ID required. How do I know this? My In-laws live there, and I've gone to Trade Day with them. I was appalled to see that guns were too readily available to anyone. That was alarming.

As far as sporting and shooting skeet, I understand the tradition, and think you have a good handle on it.... I worry about the guy next to you that had a bad day.

Please forgive me if I did offend you, it was not my intention.

8:59 PM  
Blogger Scott said...

I am with you 100%, the intention of the 2nd amendment should never be taken in today's context. The founding fathers would never have invisioned uzi, and assault weapons. The genious of the US Constitution is that there are outs, amendments can be made.

There is no need for the average citizen to own assault weapons, it makes no sense.

Great post.

Scott

10:10 PM  
Blogger Skye said...

I agree with you hold heartly on this subject. I'd like to share something with you that happened just yesterday, my fill-in helper said to me," When was the last time you heard of a black man shooting a white man?" now keep in mind that this is a statement coming from someone who has survied S.F. absolute worse neighborhood and made it to 24 years old has a family and now has moved to Oakland like that is any better. Wait, he also has told me in the past that they couldn't even call and order pizza because of the drive-by shootings that the pizza places said no way. Well like the bible says live by the sword.....

3:43 AM  
Blogger Kelly said...

This is a great topic!

1:41 PM  
Blogger awareness said...

Hi Ellen.

It simply astounds me that gun control is not addressed properly; that the US government continues to lead the way in using the 2nd ammendment as a shielding argument.

I can't imagine living in a city where drive by shootings are the norm, where you can't even order a pizza to be delivered..... it's beyond my comprehension.

I live in "hunting" country. There are many hunters lurking in the woods around here. At dawn, especially on the weekends, I can here the guns going pop, pop, pop down by the river as the hunters try to kill the birds. It's bizarre! Hunting isn't something that I grew up acclimatizing to. Therefore I can't get my head around that either. When I'm on the road in the mornings at this time of year and see a deer at the side of the road which is pretty commonplace, I roll down my window and tell them to run and hide!!! :)

Great post.... peace will never be within hands reach if our hands are holding a weapon...... and our hearts are filled with the urge to kill.

BTW..... I'm an "expert" markswoman. Got the badge to prove it. heehee. Isn't that ironic?

3:24 PM  
Blogger john said...

you're right , gun control no no gun control is a contentious issue . passion is arouse among pro and con advocates . always . we saw what happened bet. rosie o'donnel and tom selleck in the now defunct show of the former . funny but sometime ago , this scene was almost repeated in the show ' the view ' . this time it's bet. rosie and fellow co host , elizabeth .
i though they will settle the issue thru a duel. elizabeth must prefer a gun duel knowing her pro gun stand while rosie is ..well ...is prepare to duke it out w/out any weapon . She's used to that , if you know what i mean !

6:44 PM  
Blogger X said...

There has been a lot of debate on gun control up here after the college shooting in Montreal...and especially since our Prime Minister wants to ebolish the federal gun registry. The said thing is...even with stricter laws people will still get guns. Does that mean we shouldn't do anything? No, of course not. It beens that along with putting in restrictions a la paperwork, we should also get tougher inforcement at a street level to crackdown on illegal weapons. And perhaps invest more into therapy and treatment for anger management...because - to use a tired expression - guns don't kill people, people do.

10:46 AM  
Blogger Ellen said...

scott~
I heard comedian Louie Anderson say the same thing, referring to the type of guns we posess today compared to the muskets of yesteryear and the Founding Fathers.... it made complete sense to me as well. SOME guns should not be in the hands of people, criminal or otherwise. The stats are nicely varied, but "crime of passion" is near top billing.

************

skye~
Drive-bys were a common news story for awhile, and Atlanta had it's share too. Sickening to think about, isn't it?

My son, around the age of 7, used to be afriad of playing in the basement and leaving the shutters open. Since it is ground level, it used to frighten him that there'd be a drive-by at our house. I had to keep assurring him that we didn't live in "that" kind of neighborhood, where things of that nature just didn't occur. Being the little news freak he was at the time, he was frightened by the 6:00 news. (I didn't turn it on, he wanted to watch.) He felt he'd be safer with the shutters closed.... as if a few pieces of wood and cloth would stop the bullets.

I believe my neice lives in Oakland... is it not safe there?

************

myutopia~
Thank you.

************

awareness~

I had to laugh at your deer story. It reminded me of my trip to the Smokies.
The Saturday night we were there, hubby and I decided to take the driving trail around one of the mountains. We were in search of bears feeding. Since it was at dusk, we were told it was the best time to see them in the woods. Well, instead of seeing any bears, we came up on two deer feeding very close to the road. We stopped our vehicle to watch, and the deer continued feeding.... never backing away further into the woods. We could have reached out the driver side window and touched one of them.... it was that close. I mentioned to hubby that it was a good thing we weren't hunters or this one would be tied on the hood by now.
Go forth little deer.

I was one of those bleeding hearts for Bambi, and could never watch the movie again after seeing it the first time as a little girl. His mother dying just put me over the edge. Even though I knew she died by fire. Deer are such beautiful creatures, aren't they?

I know all the arguments about how we need to thin the deer population, and figure responsible hunters and Army Corps of Engineers should handle that. Problem is, I've also heard plenty of stories of hunters that have shot at what they thought, was a "deer". That said, I applaud anyone who learns how to handle a gun as it shows a great deal of responsibility.

************

john~
I remember hearing about Rosie and Tom Selleck having a gun issue they argued over... but did not hear about the one she had between her new co-worker at The View.

You're right though, the issue does arouse a lot of passion between the pro and con sides. Let's hope that they remember words work better when tempered with compassion and compromise.

************

illusion~
Thank you for stopping by.

"Hope" is the last vestage out of Pandoras box. We can only hope that "caring" springs out after it, otherwise we are doomed as a race.

************

K.~
Yup, it's those illegal weapons on the street that's one of our worst nightmares. Tougher enforcement in this area would certainly bring the stats down.

My feeling is this.... if you want to own a gun, you should be required by law to have the proper training and education on the subject. We do this for drivers by testing them, why not gun owners? Automatic weapons and uzi's are of no use the the general public. They are strictly for the use of killing.... not hunting (unless you count people as part of the "hunted").

So how do you do this in the United States? Start now. To begin with, revise the 2nd ammendment to make it more specific.

As far as the anger management classes.... yes, it would do good for some people to know when they need help, and not a gun to solve their problems.

2:35 PM  
Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

Sorry it took me so long (time off)to have time to comment here...

If we were all "required" to have a gun, I'd train on mine until I was good enough to only maim. They can't rob you with out a hand, they can't run without a leg...

IOW- I don't think killing is necessary, just makes for an easier target!

It'd be best if violence was never necessary, but having no defense is way too risky. Having firearms on hand makes for stupid accidents n excuses to use it- There is no happy medium!
I don't have one, but have fired a few for the experience. Watch out for that recoil!

Good ideas about the 2nd Amendment in your comment above!

May gunfire never make you dance!

11:39 PM  
Blogger Ellen said...

snaggle~
No apologies are ever needed... I know you are a busy woman, and work crazier hours than I do.

You make a great point about violence. Yes, it is unnecessary, but to go without some form of protection in todays world is risky. I am at complete risk, needless to say. I can only hope that the burglers see my ADT sign and leave me alone. It's my only line of defense.

My younger brother bought a shotgun back when we were teenagers years ago. He let me shoot it once, and that's all it took, as the recoil sent me backwards. It might have been nice if he had warned me. I've never had the "bug" to ever do it again.

If I ever thought I might need protection, I would most certainly go for the training. To not do that is irresponsible.

3:28 PM  

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