Letter: Let’s think about gun control
January 8, 2013 at 6:00 pm in Worthington Daily Globe
Miss April Wallace’s previous letter on this subject claimed that guns make it much easier to kill people. Guns also make it much easier to defend people. Continue Reading
Seems to me these violent attacks have evolved right along the same timeline as violent video games. I can see no other use for these games except to teach violence, the more people you kill the better you are, WTH Ban them. Gun violence in movies, same O. The media’s drawn-out coverage is of no help either. Of course all these people are mentally ill which the above no doubt exacerbates. The lack of discipline in schools, on and on. We have had guns forever but these attacks only a couple decades. More gun control will do nothing to solve this problem.
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deano, your absolutely right my friend, but no one wants to talk about it.
No credible person can argue that our country has not been slowly becoming a very violent place. Mostly inner cities but not always. We love our violence. At least for entertainment purposes. We crave it. Forget the statistics. Let’s all acknowledge that we live in an increasingly violent society and that it really doesn’t matter where we are on some list we found on wikipedia. There. That issue is settled. Now lets move on to the real question which is, why? Guns you say? Really? Guns are why we are seeing more and more violence?
Do you know why they put explicit warning labels on video games, music cds and rating on movies? Because there is a clear consensus among resonable minds that certain images and messages could be harmful to young developing minds. How many understand that those same warning labels and ratings do absolutely NO good at all. I won’t even mention what you can get on the internet.
Now put those kids in a world in which they become isolated, maybe a broken home with divorce, no real friends to speak of, a society that has no real moral compass anymore, throw in a bully at school, maybe a parent who has “no time”, more and more time spent taking frustrations out on a video game where they can “shoot and kill” to get the high score, watch a good “shoot em up” action movie and when they do go out they have wires in their ears pumping in the latest hip hop lyrics.
But wait you say, that’s not your typical kid. Most kids can handle all of the above with no ill effects. Well maybe, maybe not. I’m not so sure. What I do know is that most will NOT go out, find a gun and kill people. That, so far at least, is not the norm. We are however, seeing it more and more frequently. Wonder why? Because of more guns?
Guns are not the cause of gun violence anymore than cars are the cause of traffic fatalities and all the useless statistics which show our country to be a violent society (as if we didn’t know) do not address the reason why that is. But we know don’t we? We know why. Violence is entertaining.
For years the progressive humanists have been crying out for a godless society. We are now beginning to see what that looks like. Unfortunately, it’s going to get much worse. Might as well microwave yourself some popcorn and go rent the latest Tarantino.
Ask any farmer…… “you will reap what you sow.”
As Always,
Red
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“Do you know all the wars that were fought in the name of religion? Most.”
A: Less than 10% according to the data I found.
“But whatever helps push your agenda I guess.”
Indeed.
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Deo,
I stand corrected (partially). War was the wrong word to use. But how many reasons for going to war.. were out of “because God told me so.”? Maybe your ‘source’ would shed some light on this.
War was too technical, I should have used ‘violence.’ So instead of conflicts like ‘War on Terror,’ it would also include a more broad meaning. Violent acts like The Inquisition, Crusades, etc. For example, the Civil War was fought over slavery.. which people thought was justifiable because it was found in the bible. Hitler thought he was conducting himself “in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator.” Manifest Destiny here in early America.
Do you understand the connection here?
Take the modern day GOP if you still don’t understand. They hide behind God to hate. Rape is now ‘Gods will.’ Gays are hated because the bible says so. And they don’t much like using their ‘Christian Values’ on the poor.
Surely, you can now see the connection and how ludicrous it is to now blame a godless society (you blame liberals but they could argue they are fighting for a different right.. the freedom of religion). So many GOPers know exactly what God wants.. and how ironically it follows their own desires and agenda.
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Merc,
Nothing about the bill of rights protects govt powers from the people, quite the contrary. In fact, read the Federalist papers and study the history of where we were at the time of the revolution and how we got our current constitutional republic, everything was based on the idea of promoting individual liberty and freedom and curtailing the government’s power to avoid tyranny. It is the underlying foundation to our entire system of government.
Your statement that the 2nd amendment does not provide an individual right is simply ignorant quite wrong, as the Supreme Court recently confirmed yet again in Heller (rejecting DC’s gun ban and affirming a fundamental individual right in the 2nd amendment) and other subsequent cases such as MacDonald in Chicago.
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mi·li·tia (m…-l¹sh“…) n. Abbr. mil. 1. An army composed of ordinary citizens rather than professional soldiers. 2. A military force that is not part of a regular army and is subject to call for service in an emergency.
Sounds like the average Joe to me. Spinner Merc!
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No Merc, I doubt the writers would of thought it necessary to add an amendment to make sure the government could arm the military! Even then as now that would have been a given. I think it’s more likely that it was put there so (The People) like myself or you could protect ourselves from people like you that would like to take their rights and freedoms away! We need to deal with this problem without taking the freedoms of the vast vast majority, especially when it will in no way solve the problem.
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I know Dr. Bogus, he usually consorts with Dr. Ersatz, Dr. Contrived an of course Mr. Phony Baloney! All well respected individuals. We now have Mr. BS Spearman to compete for Top Spinner. That might land you in that hidden area; see above, although you’ve got a couple of bright bulbs going for you already!
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Spearman,
Let concentrate on what the U.S. Supreme Court has said regarding the 2nd Amendment. I mean seriously what’s your point?
Some nutjob wrote a paper proposing a theory about why the 2nd amndment was included in the Bill of Rights. OK so now what? The fact remains that it’s in there!! The courts have ruled on the meaning. Courts and Judges and Justices decide law, not some overpaid law professor in a cheap suit that wrote an article. So Booger or Bogus or Beanie doesn’t even matter!
What’s your point sir? State your point please.
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Mr. Bogus is considered the countries top legal scholar on the 2nd amendment having researched and written widely. If you can’t understand what the point of his angle on the second amendment is go to his essays.
His point is that the reason for including the 2nd amendment in the Constitution has everything to do with protecting slavery and nothing with defending ourselves as individuals. The Founding fathers from the north didn’t want a right to bear arms or a standing army during peacetime. They only included it to get the Constitution ratified by getting Va. to vote forit. Therefore the courts interpretations of the 2nd have been made without the knowledge of Dr. Bogus’ historical research as to the origin of the 2nd amend. The right to bear arms is no longer a tenable position. If we hadn’t followed the false logic of the gun lobby yrs. ago we wouldn’t be in this predicament as a society.
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spearman -
That’s one man’s INTERPRETATION. Since he wasn’t there he can only speculate by reading and trying to interpret. For every position written you can find an opposing position. For every interpretation there is a different interpretation. Even the Supreme Court can decide a case and 4 vote one way and 5 vote the opposite. Same case, same facts, and the SCOTUS can reach 2 or more opposing opinions.
Mr. Bogus’s article is not “dispositive” of the issue. Trust me I studied law. His theory and interpretation and brilliantly written article is not “controlling” on the courts.
I realize you think you figured out the answer to all our problems. We can now just throw out the 2nd Amendment and confiscate everyone’s gun and all our troubles are over. I’m telling you, it’s not going to work. But thanks for the suggestion. Give it a rest now will ya.
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“[The Second Amendment] has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word ‘fraud,’ on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.”
— Former (CONSERVATIVE) Chief Justice Warren Burger, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, December 16, 1991
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Washington,
First of all Burger is dead. Second that quote was made after he retired from the Court in 1991. Third, the 2nd Amendment has been challeged most recently in the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008). In Heller the SCOTUS stated that the 2nd Amendment applies to an individual right to bear arms.
Now, how in the world do you think a quote by a dead guy which he said after he was off the bench, 17 years prior to a landmark decision by the US Supreme Court affirming the right of an individual to own and carry a gun has anything to do with the current discussion?
He didn’t even write it up as an opinion. He said it on a TV show and later the interview was published in the Parade Magazine. The Parade Magazine. Do you know what that is? It’s a little tiny paper they stick in the Sunday paper with all the ads.
Come on now. Be serious will ya.
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Red,
A quote from a dead guy, huh?? The 2nd Amendment was created by a bunch of dead guys.. good argument if you don’t think about it though!
Because he wasn’t currently serving and because his WORDS were printed a magazine also discredits the quote. Good one.
Yes, the Heller case did rule in favor of the 2nd Amendment. By 5 to 4, don’t act like its common sense that we can’t talk about gun control. “The court also ruled, though, that “the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited.” (Despite what many conservatives think). Justice Scalia has also come out and said there has ‘undoubtedly’ limits to the 2nd Amendment. These comments were months ago though, that may be to outdated for you.
You sir, are the one that believes the 2nd Amendment is in jeopardy of being abolished (As liberals believe – “We can now just throw out the 2nd Amendment and confiscate everyone’s gun and all our troubles are over.”) and blaming the lack of god in our society as the reason for all this violence.
When will you get serious?
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It’s not what enters a man that defiles him, but what proceeds from his heart.
The violence of today’s culture is reminisent of the times of Noah. Are you ready?
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