Tag: second amendment rights

U.S. Mass Shootings in 2017

A mass shooting is defined as the killing of four or more people at any venue. Here is a graph of the killings this year.

Click on graph to enlarge it.

The total to date is 532 people.

This graph includes today’s shooting a Sutherland Springs, Texas.

As a nation we appear to be willing to accept the killings as the price of the right to own a gun. In fact we can own as many guns as we want.

Of course there will be a vigil where candles will be light.  Everyone will say a prayer but it is unlikely anyone will call for new gun controls.

Other nations have free democracies without the widespread ownership of weapons. It appears that this fact has not sunk into the heads of most Americans.

When Americans finally wake up to this fact perhaps we will see the passage of laws that limit gun ownership. Then again gun lovers seem to believe that their weapons are more important than life itself.

Is the U.S. Constitution equivalent to the Bible?

It remains inexplicable that the most advanced country in the world honors a document written in 1789 as if it was handed down from God like the Ten Commandments.

Those wise men that wrote the United States Constitution recognized that the basic law they created might need to be amended as the world evolved. They provided for that situation in Article V. Despite that ability the conservatives on the Supreme Court and elsewhere in our nation defend the idea “that the meaning of the constitution does not change or evolve over time, but rather that the meaning of the text is both fixed and knowable.  An originalist believes that the fixed meaning of the text should be the sole guide for a judge when applying or interpreting a constitutional provision.” Source of quotation

Thus we are all bound to the idea that our right to bear arms has no limits. Anyone can buy and own a gun. The NRA strongly advocates this belief in spite of the continuing loss of life caused by the deranged. They oppose all forms of weapons registration and the names of people who own them.

Thus on this fall day a high school student in Washington State killed one classmate and seriously injured three others before taking his own life. Meanwhile two Northern California deputies are dead another officer and a civilian were injured by another mad man.

I am quite sure there were other shootings today.

We all just change the television channel or block it out of our mind. Most people just say that is the way it is in America.

If it happens to someone in our family we cry, pray, and try to forget.

MOST OF US DO NOT HAVE THE COURAGE TO SAY “ENOUGH.” CERTAINLY NOT OUR ELECTED OFFICALS. THEY TOO ARE AFRAID OF THE NRA.

90 Guns for every 100 Citizens

  Re-posted November 5, 2013

Shooting in New Jersey Mall and at LAX

Gunman kills himself after terrorizing New Jersey shopping mall

Three dead, including gunman, in Oregon mall shooting in December 2012.  Killings like this happen so often that few even pay attention.

I have written about this situation before.  The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world.  This has been reported by news agencies repeatedly.

U.S. citizens own 270 million of the world’s 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies.

So is it any wonder that when Americans become angry they grab a gun, go to the mall or their church, and start shooting at everyone in sight.  It is a society of frustrated people who want their way in everything.

Argument with your spouse, kill her/him.  Argument with your boss, kill him/her.  You look suspicious as you walk through my neighborhood I will kill you and ask questions later.

Well it’s all about Second amendment rights.  The NRA (National Rifleman’s Association) says, Defend Your 2nd Amendment Rights, Help Protect Hunters’ Rights.  There  is nothing in the Second amendment that says you have the right to bear arms for your protection or to hunt.  It does say, “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free   state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

The problem is the people of the United States.  They really believe that their freedom hinges on their right to own weapons.  Sales have dramatically increased in the past four years because many believe that the Obama administration has plans to enforce new gun controls.  No laws have been suggested or proposed.  Still, there are those who continue to believe that their weapons will be confiscated.  The gun manufacturers are happy with this situation.

 It is a puzzle to me that a nation of so many wise and smart people believes that owning a gun is a necessity of life.

The USA is not Alone in the Issue of Gun Violence

From the Toronto Star Newspaper web site.

Published on Wednesday July 18, 2012

On Monday night, Toronto was rocked by a tragic act of gun violence — two innocent bystanders murdered, many others injured. Importantly, this crime occurred in the wake of similar public incidents, including the recent Eaton Centre shooting.

These crimes have led to a number of seemingly contradictory statements by public officials. Police Chief Bill Blair, for example, called the Scarborough shooting unprecedented and the worst case of gun violence in North America. By contrast, Mayor Rob Ford stated that despite the recent spate of gun violence, Toronto remains the safest city in the world. Neither statement is true.

Read the rest of the article here.

We all remember the killing in Norway where a man is accused of killing 77 people in a bomb-and-gun rampage in Norway last summer said his actions were justified to save the country from multicultural forces.  Read the CNN report here.

“The National Rifle Association is America’s foremost defender of Second Amendment rights. Since its inception in 1871.”  Those are the first words you see when Googling the organization’s name.  I am impressed with the usual first words out of someone’s mouth in defending their right to bare arms.  “It’s my second Amendment rights.” I am not impressed with the concept that everyone has the right to buy all the arms they want.

The killing at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado will be a milestone event.  Now crazy people will see that they can do their deeds at theaters and shopping centers without fear of retribution.

It would be a battle to amend their “rights.” Gerry Gray, a Canadian, posted this explanation of their limits to weapon access in his country.  His comments can be read at http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1057&message=42083981

I shouldn’t get involved because I live in Canada but look at us. Our gun laws are tightening at the whim of government. In Canada……….
You cannot get a carry permit for a handgun for the purpose of self defense.
It is against the law to have tasers or mace for self defense.
Handguns with 4 inch barrels and smaller are prohibited.
Certain calibers are prohibited. ===== .25 for example
Rifles or shotguns barrel length smaller than 18 inches are prohibited.
Automatics of any kind are prohibited.
A citizen cannot carry a handgun on the street. etc etc etc

I think USA is in real danger of going the same route as Australia, UK, Canada…..
Some interesting youtube for USA……..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbx08fbb-L4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfTzPfdzFBY&feature=related