Soooo.... Guns. Sandyhook, Aurora, Portland, Milwaukee, Jackson. According to the Nation 88 people died in mass shootings but I cannot tell you how they define that. http://www.thenation.com/blog/171774/fifteen-us-mass-shootings-happened-2012-84-dead#
But so what? 300 million guns in arguably the safest country in the world. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_gun_owners_are_there_in_the_United_States_of_America
Were number one! Once again we are exceptional Americans. Exceptionally frightened Americans. I have no answers and no pearls of wisdom. We cannot put 300 million guns back in the bottle. We cannot take back the assault weapons (whatever that means) that have already been sold. We cannot reinstate the mental health funding which is the first thing cut at every budget impasse. We cannot remove with the stroke of a pen the violence in videos, movies , games and TV that Hollywood enshrines.
But we should think about it. And we should be ashamed. Not just for Newtown but for the people killing each other in Chicago without headline or national comment. I don’t promote any answers but the one thing that has to be clear is that removing funding for mental illness along with dramatically increasing the availability and number of guns makes things like Newtown a natural result. We reap what we sew. The chickens do indeed come home to roost.
So, think about it. Think about the 2nd Amendment that called for well regulated militia. And what had become of it with high powered weapons available for every household. Are there ANY limits to the 2nd Amendment as currently interpreted? If so, what are they?
Under our current interpretation of this language, what would it not allow? Below is my idea for a movie, or more likely a Saturday night live skit. I did it on December 3rd, well in advance of Newtown. It could be funny... and really, really sad.
***
Mohammed, Aarif, Abdul and Hamdan are in Tehran working on the Iraqi nuclear bomb project. They are constantly beset by poor working conditions, unreasonable Mullah’s, and UN Nuclear Inspectors. They cannot get work done. They cannot build the bomb for Islam. They are denied the working materials they need and have constant saboteurs (Israeli and American provocateurs) who are constantly undermining their work. It is a disaster where they have to work each day and the dream of better labs and equipment and materials.
They have a conversation about where they could go to make the bomb for the Jihad. They consider Afghanistan and immediately disregard it after disparaging comments regarding camels and thieves. They consider briefly North Korea and then they make disparaging comments about the food and the little dictator that runs the place.
They go home and in their cramped apartment are watching Al Jazeera’s coverage of the American Election and see the NRA shouting about the second amendment and the right to bear arms...they see southern Senators talking about standing their ground and every man’s right to defend themselves. Then they see the Republicans on the floor of the house decrying bans on automatic weapon sales and speaking about it being a violation of rights for Americans not to have their own mortars and tanks and bombs. An idea is borne.
They move to America and with funding from their government open a new nuclear research program at Millsaps or some other small piece of shit southern college. They start to build their bomb and they defend it against all objectors as they build the bomb. When people express concern Wayne La Pierre of the NRA goes on meet the press and suggests that every American ought to have access to nuclear technology. Boeing announces a partnership with Colt to start research to introduce tactical nukes to “defend” your home. They are defended as they make their bomb and they and others, state that every American should be entitled to have a nuclear bomb. Why shouldn’t an American citizen be entitled to a nuclear bomb? It is right there in the Constitution! During a press interview Hamdan gets carried away shouting “Alluah Akbar” and then catching himself in the dead silence that ensues screams “I mean DON’T TREAD ON ME” to raucous applause. Fade out to a mushroom cloud over Birmingham.
I don’t know how it ends. It might be funny.
***
Think about how you should react to gun violence. With fear? As a Christian... I ask you to find something in the New Testament or something in what Christ said that justifies shooting another human being... Show me where Jesus tells us to “stand our ground”. There are no easy answers or quick fixes but thoughtful Americans should be thinking about these questions.
But so what? 300 million guns in arguably the safest country in the world. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_gun_owners_are_there_in_the_United_States_of_America
Were number one! Once again we are exceptional Americans. Exceptionally frightened Americans. I have no answers and no pearls of wisdom. We cannot put 300 million guns back in the bottle. We cannot take back the assault weapons (whatever that means) that have already been sold. We cannot reinstate the mental health funding which is the first thing cut at every budget impasse. We cannot remove with the stroke of a pen the violence in videos, movies , games and TV that Hollywood enshrines.
But we should think about it. And we should be ashamed. Not just for Newtown but for the people killing each other in Chicago without headline or national comment. I don’t promote any answers but the one thing that has to be clear is that removing funding for mental illness along with dramatically increasing the availability and number of guns makes things like Newtown a natural result. We reap what we sew. The chickens do indeed come home to roost.
So, think about it. Think about the 2nd Amendment that called for well regulated militia. And what had become of it with high powered weapons available for every household. Are there ANY limits to the 2nd Amendment as currently interpreted? If so, what are they?
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.-2nd Amendment of The United States Constitution
Under our current interpretation of this language, what would it not allow? Below is my idea for a movie, or more likely a Saturday night live skit. I did it on December 3rd, well in advance of Newtown. It could be funny... and really, really sad.
***
Mohammed, Aarif, Abdul and Hamdan are in Tehran working on the Iraqi nuclear bomb project. They are constantly beset by poor working conditions, unreasonable Mullah’s, and UN Nuclear Inspectors. They cannot get work done. They cannot build the bomb for Islam. They are denied the working materials they need and have constant saboteurs (Israeli and American provocateurs) who are constantly undermining their work. It is a disaster where they have to work each day and the dream of better labs and equipment and materials.
They have a conversation about where they could go to make the bomb for the Jihad. They consider Afghanistan and immediately disregard it after disparaging comments regarding camels and thieves. They consider briefly North Korea and then they make disparaging comments about the food and the little dictator that runs the place.
They go home and in their cramped apartment are watching Al Jazeera’s coverage of the American Election and see the NRA shouting about the second amendment and the right to bear arms...they see southern Senators talking about standing their ground and every man’s right to defend themselves. Then they see the Republicans on the floor of the house decrying bans on automatic weapon sales and speaking about it being a violation of rights for Americans not to have their own mortars and tanks and bombs. An idea is borne.
They move to America and with funding from their government open a new nuclear research program at Millsaps or some other small piece of shit southern college. They start to build their bomb and they defend it against all objectors as they build the bomb. When people express concern Wayne La Pierre of the NRA goes on meet the press and suggests that every American ought to have access to nuclear technology. Boeing announces a partnership with Colt to start research to introduce tactical nukes to “defend” your home. They are defended as they make their bomb and they and others, state that every American should be entitled to have a nuclear bomb. Why shouldn’t an American citizen be entitled to a nuclear bomb? It is right there in the Constitution! During a press interview Hamdan gets carried away shouting “Alluah Akbar” and then catching himself in the dead silence that ensues screams “I mean DON’T TREAD ON ME” to raucous applause. Fade out to a mushroom cloud over Birmingham.
I don’t know how it ends. It might be funny.***
Think about how you should react to gun violence. With fear? As a Christian... I ask you to find something in the New Testament or something in what Christ said that justifies shooting another human being... Show me where Jesus tells us to “stand our ground”. There are no easy answers or quick fixes but thoughtful Americans should be thinking about these questions.
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