Five things from: April

1. It was a month in which Boston citizens showed great courage.

2. …and 46 Senators failed to demonstrate any. (Remember these names at election time.)

3.  Absolutely eerie.

4.  Adventures in cycling.

5. Did I mention that I don’t trust ‘em?


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4 responses to “Five things from: April

  1. Dave Johnson

    The matter of gun laws and such is far more complicated than many people realize. Creating more background checks and making changes to the types of guns and magazine sizes that can be used is not an ideal preventive approach to shootings such as Sandy Hook, Colorado, VT and Columbine. In fact, it most likely would have little to no effect. Those 46 Senators knew this – their votes were not “bought”.

    You have to really understand mental health issues and violence and how guns are designed and used to understand that this bill needed to conclude as it did. These are very complex matters.

    In America, more gun restrictions do not directly translate into less gun related mass killings or gun related violence. In fact, it doesn’t work that way in any country, (including Australia). Many people, as educated by the media, don’t realize this. Additionally, guns are not the deadliest weapons, both statistically and operationally, that many people assume they are so we should not assume a correlation to a safer and better America because of less guns.

    This bill was an emotional response to a very sad and tragic event, but it is not a solution. Nor does it properly represent the millions of responsible gun owners, (of which non-gun owners can seldom relate to). Do the citizens of the U.S. need 30 round magazines? Do they need “AK” anything? Well…yes and no. No one “needs” this, but then again, no one needs, for example, alcohol, (beer, wine, etc.) which takes far more innocent lives from us, by the thousands (including innocent children) everyday. In fact, of all the things on the list of things that we don’t really need, that kill innocent citizens in America, (or the world) guns rank about 5th.

    So this voted down bill was really a matter towards the rights of law abiding citizens and the protection of American liberties. That’s why 46 Senators voted it down.

  2. Raptor

    … the same courage that most of Congress (including leaders on both sides of the aisle in both Houses) exhibited in the repeal of transparency provisions of the Stock Act? Not to mention BO signing the legislation!

  3. Don

    Perhaps one day we will hear from a gun rights absolutist who says yes, of course we regret the deaths and all, but this is such a sacred right, a central part of our freedoms, that no price in blood is too high.

    • Dave Johnson

      Well…I understand the evil of guns, but compare it to this.

      Each year about 200 children (not teenagers) are killed in DUI related vehicle collisions. Of those 200, about 60% are in the vehicle of the intoxicated driver. And the numbers on innocent teenager and adult victims related to DUI is far greater than gun violence. And of course, the death from alcohol related disease is crazy high. Most likely well over 100’s of thousands. Now…does alcohol have the same stigma that guns have? Clearly not. Is anyone willing to give up their wine and beer and parties at a cost to save the lives of those that abuse it? Not likely.

      My point – just because many don’t understand the gun culture, and in many cases all we see are the evils of guns, doesn’t mean that we have the right to remove or restrict guns, as a recreational media, from the 40 million gun owners in the U.S.. Never ever is it any of our business what someone decides to do with their own personal freedom unless it means taking something from us, (all within reason of course).

      Of course, the next argument is…does anyone need an AK – “whatever”, or what the media incorrectly calls an, “assault rifle”? Well..this is when it gets a difficult because then it comes down to the technical nature of guns and how they are applied. Long story. But what is important to understand is that even if all these types of rifles could be removed from the world, and even if we limited magazines and such, we would still have mental health case related shootings as we have. In other words, it’s a people problem, not a gun problem – just like with those people that drink and drive.

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