It has been a day since most of us awaken to find out that nearly 60 people died and well over 500 were shot in Las Vegas. Yesterday I chose not to discuss it or share my personal opinions about it. Indeed, I have ignored the last three hurricanes and the earthquake in Mexico as well. It is not because I do not have strong feelings about such things, it is because this is not the venue for them to be shared. Each of these events has moved me deeply as I witness sudden and great damage with all the human suffering that goes along with it The fact that people have to suffer from natural and man-made disasters is painful.
But this Las Vegas incident has pushed me over the edge. It is being reported as the single largest mass massacre in the US, but I suspect Americans of colour might have a differing point of view. How could one individual, seemingly so normal up to that point, plan such a dastardly crime and get his hands on so many automatic rifles? The answer to me is obvious, but so many Americans seem not to want to face it.
I grew up with game hunters; heck I have shot a rifle and shotgun myself. My intention in bringing this up is not to take guns away from my own family members or anyone else for hunting nor to deprive those who feel a handgun is a tool in self protection. What I cannot abide is an individual having the right to own a semi-automatic or automatic weapons. Military members should indeed operate them, but IMHO no individual needs to own such weapon.
Congress, for goodness sake, how many citizens have to die to make this change? Look at the numbers of children who died at Sandy Hook Elementary, the young adults at the Pulse night club in Orlando, or the students who died at Virginia Tech. These numbers are devastating enough but they ignore the lives of witnesses and survivors who have been forever altered by wounds suffered or minds damaged. Isn't there something you can do to help eliminate these senseless losses?
Banning semi- automatic and automatic weapons for sale to individuals is no more a slippery slope to banning guns than mandating seat-belts in cars was meant to ban freedom of drivers. Both are meant to save lives of innocent others and in my book that is a worthy effort for the government to take on.
No I am not ignoring world events, I do have reactions to each of them. This latest shooting spree has simply brought me out of my silence here. I have now said my piece and will continue in the future to prattle on about knitting. Today was just not a day for such nonsense.
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But this Las Vegas incident has pushed me over the edge. It is being reported as the single largest mass massacre in the US, but I suspect Americans of colour might have a differing point of view. How could one individual, seemingly so normal up to that point, plan such a dastardly crime and get his hands on so many automatic rifles? The answer to me is obvious, but so many Americans seem not to want to face it.
I grew up with game hunters; heck I have shot a rifle and shotgun myself. My intention in bringing this up is not to take guns away from my own family members or anyone else for hunting nor to deprive those who feel a handgun is a tool in self protection. What I cannot abide is an individual having the right to own a semi-automatic or automatic weapons. Military members should indeed operate them, but IMHO no individual needs to own such weapon.
Congress, for goodness sake, how many citizens have to die to make this change? Look at the numbers of children who died at Sandy Hook Elementary, the young adults at the Pulse night club in Orlando, or the students who died at Virginia Tech. These numbers are devastating enough but they ignore the lives of witnesses and survivors who have been forever altered by wounds suffered or minds damaged. Isn't there something you can do to help eliminate these senseless losses?
Banning semi- automatic and automatic weapons for sale to individuals is no more a slippery slope to banning guns than mandating seat-belts in cars was meant to ban freedom of drivers. Both are meant to save lives of innocent others and in my book that is a worthy effort for the government to take on.
No I am not ignoring world events, I do have reactions to each of them. This latest shooting spree has simply brought me out of my silence here. I have now said my piece and will continue in the future to prattle on about knitting. Today was just not a day for such nonsense.
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