Well, I’ve grown past that for the most part. In all my time on this earth I have never once found myself in a position where I’d wished I had a gun. Yeah, I know, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Or is it?
How many kids die every year because they got hold of a parent’s weapon and accidently killed themselves or others? I read somewhere that in 2018 it was around seventy-five kids under 12. That statistic alone should spark a national conversation but here, in the good old USA, seventy-five dead kids means nothing. NOTHING.
According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute an average of thirteen youths between the ages of 10 and 24 are the victims of a gun homicide….PER DAY.
I could go on but we’ve heard all the statistics. In fact, we’ve heard them so often that we’ve become numb to them. So, I’m going to delve into some complicated analysis. Hang on. It’s earth shattering stuff. These concepts are the result of countless hours of deep thought and contemplation on my part. I have a headache.
1- If you throw a baited hook in the water, you might catch a fish. If you throw 500 baited hooks in the water your chances of catching a fish increase dramatically.
2- If I stand at mid-court and try to drain a jump shot my chances are not good. If I take 50 of them, chances are I’ll make a few.
3- Many years ago, I was told that if you walk up to 10 random women and ask them if they want to have sex, one will reply in the affirmative. I can’t confirm this unfortunately. I CAN confirm that if you do it four or five times you’ll get slapped at least once and six to seven attempts will conjure up an unseen boyfriend and his posse of friends who will gleefully kick your ass.
4- If we placed one gun…any gun…. a single shot .22 or a .50 caliber BAR (look it up) in the middle of the country, the odds of a child, or an adult, dying from a gunshot wound, are next to nothing (unless we put it in the home of a lunatic). If we arm every adult in the country the dead bodies will pile up pretty quickly.
It’s a simple numbers game. It’s not complicated. Like I said earlier, common sense. Now, some of you are thinking “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. You’re 100% correct. People kill people. So, I would like to put you in a room with me. The bad news is I’m going to try to kill you. The good news is you get to pick my weapon. You can pick a 9mm semi-automatic handgun with 15 in the clip and one in the chamber, a samurai sword, a bowie knife, a baseball bat, or a wrench. Did anything register yet? Good for you! Wrenches don’t kill people, people kill people… but not usually with a fucking wrench.
But what about the second amendment? It’s my constitutional right to own a gun! To you I pose the question, how many years need to pass before a document starts to become dated? Do you think the founding fathers were thinking in terms of that 9mm above? Really? Did you think the day would come when we would hold the accumulated knowledge of the human race in the palm of our hands? There’s more computing power in your cell phone that there was in the computers that helped us get to the MOON. You didn’t see that coming did you? Well, the founding fathers didn’t see the high capacity semi-automatics coming either.
But let’s leave the 2nd amendment in place. It says that we have a constitutional right to own guns (and I’ll ignore the well-regulated militia part). It does not say we have a constitutional right to buy them at 7-11. Why, would any sane individual protest the implementation of sensible screening for gun ownership? How does putting a waiting period of a few weeks or even a month, disadvantage us? Don’t YOU want to be sure your crazy uncle Eddie doesn’t have access to a gun? He tried to stab the dog with a steak knife last thanksgiving. You want him to have a gun?
Things we wait a month for:
1. New Years Eve on November 30th.
2. Your lawn mower if you wait until spring to bring it in for servicing.
3. An appointment with a specialist for that nagging pain in your knee.
4. The full benefit of Preparation-H if you use it as directed.
We live through all of these don’t we? If it saves one child’s life, or any life, wouldn’t it be worth it? No? What if it was YOUR child? Let’s stop the insanity. Conservatives are always throwing these ridiculous memes at us about Australia’s crime rate going up when they outlawed certain weapons or how the highest crime rates are in areas where gun control is the most restrictive. It’s all a bunch of bullshit. Here are some numbers (by the way, Australia’s gun violence went DOWN substantially when they implemented the mandatory buy back program).
In France there are around 15 guns for every 100 people. They experienced less than three gun related deaths per 100,000 people in 2012. Spain has around 10 guns per 100 people. They see around 1 gun related death per 200,000 people. In Germany, there are 20 guns per 100 people. There you’ll find a death rate of 1 per 100,000. Great Britain has about one death per 400,000 and their gun to person ratio is 3 per 100,000. Now, how about the good old USA. How do we stack up? We own a staggering 120 guns per 100 people (think about that) and around 20 in 100,000 die each year from gun related deaths. You don’t have to be a genius to see the math here. You do however need to be pretty dense to argue about it.
I’m not advocating a change to that gun to person ratio (although it would be nice and the time will come so start getting used to the concept). What I am advocating for is common sense screening and education for gun ownership. If it takes a month, tough shit. It probably took you longer than that to get your drivers license. If you have to wait until your 21, too bad. You can’t legally drink until then either. If it saves ONE life, it’s worth it. Stop the insanity. I’m sick and tired of people dying. And please don’t argue with the logic. I will only make you look stupid. No one is coming for your guns (yet). Keep up fighting it though and sooner or later the blow back will be huge. In the meantime, I’m hoping all of our kids, and all of you, remain safe.
Until next time.
Peace
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
The Gun Debate
In the wake of still more mass shootings, I feel compelled to comment on it all. When I was younger… OK, much younger… I was a gun toting Republican. No, it’s true. I even have one of those “I’ll give up my gun when they pry it from my cold dead fingers” belt buckles lying around somewhere. I thought I had all the answers when it came to the gun debate. I was even a card carrying member of the NRA (although in fairness, there was a time when the NRA hadn’t lost its mind and primarily promoted gun knowledge and gun safety). Besides, who wants to be caught unprepared when the apocalypse comes to fruition? You’ve all watched the Walking Dead right? Do you want to be swinging an axe or stabbing a knife into those zombie heads, getting that gooey, bloody, brain gunk all over you? Hell no! I want to blow their fucking heads off with a .45 or a .357! By the way I’ve attached a picture below to prove it. Damn, I was trim and good looking!
Well, I’ve grown past that for the most part. In all my time on this earth I have never once found myself in a position where I’d wished I had a gun. Yeah, I know, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Or is it?
How many kids die every year because they got hold of a parent’s weapon and accidently killed themselves or others? I read somewhere that in 2018 it was around seventy-five kids under 12. That statistic alone should spark a national conversation but here, in the good old USA, seventy-five dead kids means nothing. NOTHING.
According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute an average of thirteen youths between the ages of 10 and 24 are the victims of a gun homicide….PER DAY.
I could go on but we’ve heard all the statistics. In fact, we’ve heard them so often that we’ve become numb to them. So, I’m going to delve into some complicated analysis. Hang on. It’s earth shattering stuff. These concepts are the result of countless hours of deep thought and contemplation on my part. I have a headache.
1- If you throw a baited hook in the water, you might catch a fish. If you throw 500 baited hooks in the water your chances of catching a fish increase dramatically.
2- If I stand at mid-court and try to drain a jump shot my chances are not good. If I take 50 of them, chances are I’ll make a few.
3- Many years ago, I was told that if you walk up to 10 random women and ask them if they want to have sex, one will reply in the affirmative. I can’t confirm this unfortunately. I CAN confirm that if you do it four or five times you’ll get slapped at least once and six to seven attempts will conjure up an unseen boyfriend and his posse of friends who will gleefully kick your ass.
4- If we placed one gun…any gun…. a single shot .22 or a .50 caliber BAR (look it up) in the middle of the country, the odds of a child, or an adult, dying from a gunshot wound, are next to nothing (unless we put it in the home of a lunatic). If we arm every adult in the country the dead bodies will pile up pretty quickly.
It’s a simple numbers game. It’s not complicated. Like I said earlier, common sense. Now, some of you are thinking “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. You’re 100% correct. People kill people. So, I would like to put you in a room with me. The bad news is I’m going to try to kill you. The good news is you get to pick my weapon. You can pick a 9mm semi-automatic handgun with 15 in the clip and one in the chamber, a samurai sword, a bowie knife, a baseball bat, or a wrench. Did anything register yet? Good for you! Wrenches don’t kill people, people kill people… but not usually with a fucking wrench.
But what about the second amendment? It’s my constitutional right to own a gun! To you I pose the question, how many years need to pass before a document starts to become dated? Do you think the founding fathers were thinking in terms of that 9mm above? Really? Did you think the day would come when we would hold the accumulated knowledge of the human race in the palm of our hands? There’s more computing power in your cell phone that there was in the computers that helped us get to the MOON. You didn’t see that coming did you? Well, the founding fathers didn’t see the high capacity semi-automatics coming either.
But let’s leave the 2nd amendment in place. It says that we have a constitutional right to own guns (and I’ll ignore the well-regulated militia part). It does not say we have a constitutional right to buy them at 7-11. Why, would any sane individual protest the implementation of sensible screening for gun ownership? How does putting a waiting period of a few weeks or even a month, disadvantage us? Don’t YOU want to be sure your crazy uncle Eddie doesn’t have access to a gun? He tried to stab the dog with a steak knife last thanksgiving. You want him to have a gun?
Things we wait a month for:
1. New Years Eve on November 30th.
2. Your lawn mower if you wait until spring to bring it in for servicing.
3. An appointment with a specialist for that nagging pain in your knee.
4. The full benefit of Preparation-H if you use it as directed.
We live through all of these don’t we? If it saves one child’s life, or any life, wouldn’t it be worth it? No? What if it was YOUR child? Let’s stop the insanity. Conservatives are always throwing these ridiculous memes at us about Australia’s crime rate going up when they outlawed certain weapons or how the highest crime rates are in areas where gun control is the most restrictive. It’s all a bunch of bullshit. Here are some numbers (by the way, Australia’s gun violence went DOWN substantially when they implemented the mandatory buy back program).
In France there are around 15 guns for every 100 people. They experienced less than three gun related deaths per 100,000 people in 2012. Spain has around 10 guns per 100 people. They see around 1 gun related death per 200,000 people. In Germany, there are 20 guns per 100 people. There you’ll find a death rate of 1 per 100,000. Great Britain has about one death per 400,000 and their gun to person ratio is 3 per 100,000. Now, how about the good old USA. How do we stack up? We own a staggering 120 guns per 100 people (think about that) and around 20 in 100,000 die each year from gun related deaths. You don’t have to be a genius to see the math here. You do however need to be pretty dense to argue about it.
I’m not advocating a change to that gun to person ratio (although it would be nice and the time will come so start getting used to the concept). What I am advocating for is common sense screening and education for gun ownership. If it takes a month, tough shit. It probably took you longer than that to get your drivers license. If you have to wait until your 21, too bad. You can’t legally drink until then either. If it saves ONE life, it’s worth it. Stop the insanity. I’m sick and tired of people dying. And please don’t argue with the logic. I will only make you look stupid. No one is coming for your guns (yet). Keep up fighting it though and sooner or later the blow back will be huge. In the meantime, I’m hoping all of our kids, and all of you, remain safe.
Until next time.
Peace
Well, I’ve grown past that for the most part. In all my time on this earth I have never once found myself in a position where I’d wished I had a gun. Yeah, I know, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Or is it?
How many kids die every year because they got hold of a parent’s weapon and accidently killed themselves or others? I read somewhere that in 2018 it was around seventy-five kids under 12. That statistic alone should spark a national conversation but here, in the good old USA, seventy-five dead kids means nothing. NOTHING.
According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute an average of thirteen youths between the ages of 10 and 24 are the victims of a gun homicide….PER DAY.
I could go on but we’ve heard all the statistics. In fact, we’ve heard them so often that we’ve become numb to them. So, I’m going to delve into some complicated analysis. Hang on. It’s earth shattering stuff. These concepts are the result of countless hours of deep thought and contemplation on my part. I have a headache.
1- If you throw a baited hook in the water, you might catch a fish. If you throw 500 baited hooks in the water your chances of catching a fish increase dramatically.
2- If I stand at mid-court and try to drain a jump shot my chances are not good. If I take 50 of them, chances are I’ll make a few.
3- Many years ago, I was told that if you walk up to 10 random women and ask them if they want to have sex, one will reply in the affirmative. I can’t confirm this unfortunately. I CAN confirm that if you do it four or five times you’ll get slapped at least once and six to seven attempts will conjure up an unseen boyfriend and his posse of friends who will gleefully kick your ass.
4- If we placed one gun…any gun…. a single shot .22 or a .50 caliber BAR (look it up) in the middle of the country, the odds of a child, or an adult, dying from a gunshot wound, are next to nothing (unless we put it in the home of a lunatic). If we arm every adult in the country the dead bodies will pile up pretty quickly.
It’s a simple numbers game. It’s not complicated. Like I said earlier, common sense. Now, some of you are thinking “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. You’re 100% correct. People kill people. So, I would like to put you in a room with me. The bad news is I’m going to try to kill you. The good news is you get to pick my weapon. You can pick a 9mm semi-automatic handgun with 15 in the clip and one in the chamber, a samurai sword, a bowie knife, a baseball bat, or a wrench. Did anything register yet? Good for you! Wrenches don’t kill people, people kill people… but not usually with a fucking wrench.
But what about the second amendment? It’s my constitutional right to own a gun! To you I pose the question, how many years need to pass before a document starts to become dated? Do you think the founding fathers were thinking in terms of that 9mm above? Really? Did you think the day would come when we would hold the accumulated knowledge of the human race in the palm of our hands? There’s more computing power in your cell phone that there was in the computers that helped us get to the MOON. You didn’t see that coming did you? Well, the founding fathers didn’t see the high capacity semi-automatics coming either.
But let’s leave the 2nd amendment in place. It says that we have a constitutional right to own guns (and I’ll ignore the well-regulated militia part). It does not say we have a constitutional right to buy them at 7-11. Why, would any sane individual protest the implementation of sensible screening for gun ownership? How does putting a waiting period of a few weeks or even a month, disadvantage us? Don’t YOU want to be sure your crazy uncle Eddie doesn’t have access to a gun? He tried to stab the dog with a steak knife last thanksgiving. You want him to have a gun?
Things we wait a month for:
1. New Years Eve on November 30th.
2. Your lawn mower if you wait until spring to bring it in for servicing.
3. An appointment with a specialist for that nagging pain in your knee.
4. The full benefit of Preparation-H if you use it as directed.
We live through all of these don’t we? If it saves one child’s life, or any life, wouldn’t it be worth it? No? What if it was YOUR child? Let’s stop the insanity. Conservatives are always throwing these ridiculous memes at us about Australia’s crime rate going up when they outlawed certain weapons or how the highest crime rates are in areas where gun control is the most restrictive. It’s all a bunch of bullshit. Here are some numbers (by the way, Australia’s gun violence went DOWN substantially when they implemented the mandatory buy back program).
In France there are around 15 guns for every 100 people. They experienced less than three gun related deaths per 100,000 people in 2012. Spain has around 10 guns per 100 people. They see around 1 gun related death per 200,000 people. In Germany, there are 20 guns per 100 people. There you’ll find a death rate of 1 per 100,000. Great Britain has about one death per 400,000 and their gun to person ratio is 3 per 100,000. Now, how about the good old USA. How do we stack up? We own a staggering 120 guns per 100 people (think about that) and around 20 in 100,000 die each year from gun related deaths. You don’t have to be a genius to see the math here. You do however need to be pretty dense to argue about it.
I’m not advocating a change to that gun to person ratio (although it would be nice and the time will come so start getting used to the concept). What I am advocating for is common sense screening and education for gun ownership. If it takes a month, tough shit. It probably took you longer than that to get your drivers license. If you have to wait until your 21, too bad. You can’t legally drink until then either. If it saves ONE life, it’s worth it. Stop the insanity. I’m sick and tired of people dying. And please don’t argue with the logic. I will only make you look stupid. No one is coming for your guns (yet). Keep up fighting it though and sooner or later the blow back will be huge. In the meantime, I’m hoping all of our kids, and all of you, remain safe.
Until next time.
Peace
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