Ever wonder what the world would be like if its total population consisted of the beer-guzzling morons in the stands at every athletic event? You know the ones, who know how to play all positions to perfection, make zero errors, and know exactly what the opposition is planning at every turn.
They know it all. They are infectious disease experts one minute and then shift to foreign affairs specialists the next. Having received their degrees at the University of Google, no one can match their intelligence.
Anyone who tries to apply reason to their often-baseless claims is immediately pummeled to death and consumed by a feeding frenzy of sharks circling in the blooded waters.
Poor scarecrow…That wicked old witch of the West will surely send her flying monkeys your way to beat the stuffing out of you too. And if your friends try to defend you, they will also be bludgeoned to bits by the blowhards of the internet.
I have had my fair share of ‘run-ins’ with these folks who troll the internet looking for a fight…The ‘Keyboard Warriors’ hide behind avatars or bogus profiles. The schoolyard bully who would never dare say to your face what they find so easy to spew all over social media.
I shared my thoughts recently on Facebook about gun reform and the bullshit excuses I often hear whenever the subject comes up for debate. Most who agree shared a ‘like’ or even shared the post to their own page. Those who did not found it an opportunity to take ‘shots’ at me with their loaded mouths.
Still, others believe in gun reform, but also have mixed feelings about just what those reforms should be. The ‘fear’ of losing their freedom if someone comes along and takes their guns away makes them hesitant to take a stance one way or the other.
Personally, I do not have a problem with people owning guns. I have a problem with civilians owning assault weapons designed for military use.
Reminds me of Kyle Rittenhouse…The self-proclaimed vigilante of Kenosha. I am not saying the kid is a beer-drinking moron, just that he, IMHO, appears to be of the same mindset.mNo police training, (other than that of a cadet in a program for young aspiring police officers) no military training, no property of his own he was ‘protecting’…Just a kid with an AR-15, purchased for him by a friend, to do the job of policing with ZERO experience.
What comes to mind here is the Castle Doctrine. You may be familiar with it. It is what allows you to use deadly force if an intruder enters your home.
Obviously, if a stranger enters your home ‘uninvited’ the intent is to commit a crime. The moment they cross that threshold, you can legally use deadly force and it is considered self-defense, even if they have not made any violent threats or actions towards you.
However, if that burglar exits your home, with whatever they managed to grab along the way, (most are just looking for your television or computer) you are NOT allowed to chase them down the street firing at will. Not only do you put yourself in grave danger, but you also run the risk of hurting innocent people.
If that perpetrator turns and starts shooting at you, that is deadly force and can certainly be met with deadly force. But keep in mind, if you hit and kill that perpetrator, in the eyes of the law, it could be viewed as murder because YOU switched roles by leaving THE SAFETY OF YOUR CASTLE and became the aggressor by chasing him down the street.
IMHO, this is where the lines of the Rittenhouse case become very blurred. Not only did he leave his own castle, but he also left his hometown and went to Kenosha, (driven there by his MOTHER no less) as an untrained idiot with a gun looking for a fight.
He did have close ties to Kenosha, but he did not live there. So, he was not protecting HIS home. He was playing cowboy and falsely anointed himself ‘protector of the people.’
So how did this seventeen-year-old from Antioch, Ill. get away with crossing the border and shooting three people, killing two of them, without so much as a slap on the wrist?
Well, the first brain fart is the fact that the Judge, in this case, dismissed a misdemeanor weapons charge near the end of the trial. WTF? Even though Wisconsin is an open-carry state, meaning these folks can carry LEGAL weapons without permits, minors are NOT permitted to carry weapons in public. This kid was still a minor at the time.
And the mother and friend, BOTH accessories contributing to the death /injury of these people, were never brought up on additional charges. Mind-boggling to say the least. Bottom line is, that this case was not prosecuted properly.
Now I am no lawyer, but it seems to me there was, at the very least, a degree of reckless homicide here in addition to a minor carrying a gun in public. Not only do gun laws need reform, but so does the mindset of an entire kangaroo court system.
Every time we have an incident, the bodies keep piling up. The victims of the Buffalo massacre were not even laid to rest before we had another mass shooting in Uvalde, killing nineteen children and two teachers.
It is happening in such quick succession these days that we are becoming desensitized to all the traumas. That in and of itself is frightening. The heat packers scream, “Secure the schools, and arm the teachers!” Are you kidding me? Teachers are there to TEACH…They are not foot soldiers!
And if you want to hide behind the bullshit excuse of mental illness being at the root of the problem, then why was an eighteen-year-old whom police knew to be mentally ill able to purchase 2 AR-15s and 375 rounds of ammunition?!?!? THAT’S THE PROBLEM! SMFH
No civilian, even one of sound mind, needs an assault weapon designed for military use for ANY REASON other than to kill…correction, slaughter people.
And do not give me the excuse of being a ‘hunter’…No self-respecting hunter uses an assault rifle to hunt. If you do, you are no hunter…You are just slaughtering your prey. There will be precious little of it left to hang on your ‘trophy wall.’
The damage was so extensive in Uvalde, that those poor parents needed DNA samples to identify their children.
And then comes BULLSHIT EXCUSE #2.
“I am a responsible gun owner and I need it to protect myself and my family.”
Ok…So I will assume as a ‘responsible gun owner’ that means you have your firearm safely stored in a locked safe and away from the ‘little hands’ that might happen upon them. Good for you. That is very responsible!
So, then what is the plan when the perceived ‘Hamburglar’ you need to protect yourself and your family from breaks into your home catching you unaware?
Will you have enough time to jump out of bed, run the combination on your locked safe, load your weapon, and confront your intruder?
Or do you plan to sleep with a loaded piece under your pillow to catch the intruder by surprise?
Asking for a friend who lost her life at 18, after a younger family member happened upon a loaded pistol in a dresser drawer and accidentally shot her in the face…In her OWN home.
Enough already. Something needs to change.
Cyndi, thank you for having the courage to speak out and the patience to thoughtfully engage Frankly, this whole “protect my 2nd Amendment” argument is nothing more than a red herring. I have not heard a single serious recommendation that we strip Americans of their right to the 2nd Amendment. (The stripping of personal rights only applies to women it seems… but I digress.) I challenge anyone to provide a single example of someone pushing to do away with the 2nd Amendment.
Every serious suggestion has centered around more stringent background checks, raising the age from 18 to 21 (the prefrontal cortex of the brain still isn’t fully developed until 25-ish), and requiring licenses, waiting periods or training. Surely, responsible gun owners would agree that some of those measures are not only reasonable, but smart.
In fact, the vast majority of Americans – on both sides of the political divide – support universal background checks, bans on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines, and “red flag laws” that would allow police and family members to seek court orders to temporarily take guns away from those considered a risk to themselves and others. Over 90% of Democrats and 82% of Republicans support making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks. Nearly three quarters of Americans, of both political parties, oppose carrying concealed weapons without a permit.
And yet, here we are. No compromise. No movement on any common sense gun safety measures that the vast majority of Americans agree upon. Gun safety – not gun abolishment – not “doing away with the 2nd Amendment.” It’s all about money and power and control. It has nothing to do with what we value as a society.
No, these measures will not prevent every shooting, crime or death. Bad guys will still find a way to get guns and crimes will continue to be committed. But if putting these measures in place will prevent the next 18 year-old from purchasing a weapon designed to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible and shooting up an elementary school leaving dead children unrecognizable such that it requires DNA to identify them, I’d say that would be a pretty good start.
Guns kill more children under the age of 19 than any other means. Guns kill more children than motor vehicle collisions, cancer, or any other disease. And this is a uniquely American problem. Though horrifying and sensational, school deaths represent only a small fraction firearm deaths. Most firearm injuries and deaths happen in homes or neighborhoods.
Let me reiterate just to be clear. I am NOT suggesting doing away with the 2nd Amendment. I do not own a gun, was not raised in a household with guns and didn’t grow up in a family of hunters. That said, if you want to shoot animals in the forest or kill giraffes for sport, that’s your right. I’ve never been a cop, I’ve never been in the military, and I’ve never had to shoot someone to defend my family. But, as an American citizen, I believe I have just as much right to an opinion about common sense regulations designed to keep ALL of us safe.
If life is sacred… all life… then why are we not doing everything we possibly can to address the single biggest child killer in this country?
Apparently, guns are more sacred – which kind of shoots that whole pro-life argument to bits.
Oh my…You nailed that one Melissa Hughes. Quick on the draw to strip women of their reproductive rights, but do not dare come after their guns. Thank you for recognizing that nowhere in this article do I suggest stripping anyone of their 2nd amendment rights. It seems to be the agitated ‘auto-response’ of fear every time the subject comes up for air.
You have stated your position, and that of the vast majority of Americans, so eloquently that I have nothing to add. We can only pray that the voices of the people are heard and there is a bi-partisan effort by Congress to pass these common sense gun reform measures to make these horrible ‘mass murder’ events less likely in the future.
Thoughts and prayers, indeed! Oh wait… we should probably save those for the next shooting victims.
Cyndi, first, I feel for the berated comments shoved your way on FB in regards to your article and heartfelt emotions regarding assault rifles in general it seems. I know before I even write another sentence that you and I will be on opposite sides of the fence to a certain degree. A military style assault weapon has the ability to be placed on fully automatic. That means you pull the trigger and rounds are fired until the magazine is empty. A civilian version of a rifle turned semi-automatic you must pull the trigger once to fire a round and repeat that with each round. Assault weapons are fully automatic period, semi-weapons are not. Machine guns are outlawed. Rifles and handguns in this country can be semi-automatic. Pistols are used in the majority of all criminal shootings. The majority of the people that own guns are responsible citizens and under the Bill of Rights, Second Amendment can legally posses the firearms. Every citizen has the right to self defense. As a retired police officer, who was trained and know the law, one should before you even contemplate purchasing a firearm, be trained.
In our society, convicted felons, people who are addicted to drugs, mentally ill, people who are found to be mentally deficient cannot legally posses firearms. The strongest firearm laws are in major metropolitan cities, such as Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Baltimore, just to name a few. Every year they have had a record for homicides due to gang violence, turf control and illegal sales of drugs. These firearms are coming into their hands through the black market, burglaries and straw purchases. Folks convicted of unlawfully possession of a firearm are not fully prosecuted under the guise of restoritive justice by liberal prosecutors, which is a great problem.
No doubt a load firearm is a problem which when it falls into the hands of a young person or someone who is drunk is a tragedy. There is no cure for evil nor remedy for stupidity. It breaks my heart as a former police officer that responded to calls of victims shot by guns which were in the wrongs hands of those who used it.
The solutions: Stronger prosecution, Increase mental health screening, Firearm enhance to prosecute. Stricter and more secure background checks. Raising the age to 21. Allowing retired military or law enforcement persons to occupy job positions to protect the schools. Where did all the money go that was supposedly for the schools during COOVID?
I understand much of the emotion and frustration, and no I have not lost a child to gun violence but I have friends who have and to take away guns within a society is not going to solve or prevent another shooting. Criminals will always find a way to get their hands on weapons. Is it crazy to say I see your point of view, but also I have to look at it from another lens as well. One last note, when my daughter was little and we were coming out of a grocery store, I was confronted by a man who definitely meant to do harm and if I had not had my own hand gun to change the incident, the outcome would have been very different. Obviously your article has generated a deep and personal dialogue.
Thank you for your compassionate response Lynn…and I believe we are more in alignment than you may think. The ‘civilian’ version of a rifle turned semi-automatic as you and Mr. Vincent have stated, does not have the capacity to slaughter a room full of people in a matter of seconds. Thank you BOTH for that distinction. Personally, my issue is with the AR-15.
Thank you as well for recognizing the deep emotion I was feeling in this post. The eighteen-year-old woman I spoke of was my best friend, We had just graduated from high school and had our whole lives in front of us. Until hers was snuffed out and mine spiraled into severe depression and substance abuse.
Those are years I will never get back. I am fifty-eight now…and in forty years, not much has changed. It has only gotten worse. I am not suggesting taking away guns from folks who have obtained them LEGALLY and are properly trained to use them. Yes, everyone has a right to defend themselves.
As you state here, “In our society, convicted felons, people who are addicted to drugs, mentally ill, people who are found to be mentally deficient cannot legally posses firearms.”
But they do…and it happens everyday due to lackadaisical guns laws and corrupt politicians jockeying for their positions. Stricter background checks, Red Flag Laws, raising the age limit and so on may not solve the problem, but at the very least it will slow the bleeding of mass murder.
Again, thank you for your thoughts.
Best,
Cyndi
Cindi, don’t stop expressing what you are passionate about no matter the objections, differences of opinions or anything near that. Say what you think. I believe that doing that really brings people to unity over time when they can agree to disagree. I will be reading more of your articles. Thank you for accepting my response. God Bless
I wasn’t sure how to respond to your article without appearing to be oblivious to what has happened over the last few weeks. First I will never hide behind a bogus name. I have no problem expressing my opinion right or wrong and I don’t concern myself about being liked or not. The only people that have to like me are my wife and children.
Although you made some very valid points in your article there are some points that I have a problem with. As for Kyle Rittenhouse he went to trial and was found not guilty which, whether you agree with the verdict or not ( it appears that you are pissed off that he was found not guilty) is the way the system is supposed to function. Now on to the individual who shared the June 7th post with you. All of the mass shootings have been tragedies and the individuals who committed those crimes were evil people doing evil deeds. Yes the AR15 was the weapon on choice. Reading her post she paints all Republicans with the same broad brush. If you are a conservative Republican you must belong to the NRA, you must be against gun control. You hunt with an AR15. I used to hunt when I was younger. I lost my interest after I got home from Vietnam. I have numerous family members that hunt. They hunt with shotguns, bow and black powder. They eat what they kill.
She goes on to state that she is done talking to Republicans, states that 5 of the 9 Supreme Court Judges are extremists in bed with the NRA. So much for a honest discussion. Typical left, my way or no way.
I own a handgun and I have never been or never will be a member of the NRA. I believe in the 2nd Amendment.
Now I would like to address your BULL SHIT #2.
I was in Law Enforcement for 25 years having worked as a Syracuse Police Officer for 20 years and as a Senior Investigator in the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office for 5 years. So I have investigated my share of burglaries and not all were as simple as you make them as evidenced by the single young lady who had her apartment burglarized at night while she was sleeping and the burglar wasn’t just satisfied to take some property. He raped the victim as well.
When my wife and I decided to move to North Carolina I sold my two handguns for which I had a permit. My friends told me that I was crazy that I might need them some day. My theory was that having a gun sometimes gives you a big set of balls. In other words having the gun might cause you not to walk from and heated discussion.
Fast forward to 2020 and the BLM Movement. Cities (DC in particular endured five nights of that bullshit. I know cause my son stood the line for five nights trying to protect the Capital)) and businesses were being burned down and crime was running rampant. Law abiding people are trying to go out to dinner with their families and they are accosted at the restaurant. All those incidents were called peaceful demonstrations by the left.
You wrote about the “Hamburglar” and the need to protect family and home. Whether or not there would be time to jump out
of bed get to your locked safe, remove and load the gun to confront the intruder.
What happened during the year 2020 caused me to do something I never though I would ever do. I went out and purchased a handgun and also applied for my conceal carry permit. You see there would be no way that I would allow any one the opportunity to harm my family. By the way they now make Biometric Finger Print Gun Safes. The safe can be opened in less than one second. The safe can be installed on the wall next to one’s bed or in a night stand. I wouldn’t need time to load the weapon as it is always loaded. If someone wants to enter my house illegally then they pose a threat to me and my family and they will get to meet my friend the 9MM.
Unfortunately that is the world we live in today. I didn’t make it that way. Every time a politician opens his or her mouth about doing away with the 2nd Amendment or curtailing the sale of guns, the gun sales go through the roof.
One more thing if the left is so adamant about getting rid of guns then they should have no problem giving up their guns. Please don’t think for one minute that some don’t posses a weapon. They could also have their security people give up their guns as well.
Before I finish I am for extensive background checks, waiting periods for the purchase of a weapon, red flag laws, better mental health laws and if the government wants to ban Assault weapons so be it. If you want to raise the age limit for the purchase of a weapon from 18 to 21 which has been put into law here in Florida I am all for that.
If the Government wants to come for my 9MM handgun I will never allow that to happen.
The only winners would be the criminals out on the street.
Thank you for your ammened reply Mr. Stassi,
My father was a police officer, and I have the utmost respect for the law. I am not ignorant to the dangers of the ‘real world’…especially those of women alone and vulnerable. I had a frightening encounter many years ago with with a couple of ‘would-be’ assailants. It is in my profile here if you wish to read it. It is entitled, ” When The Night Comes.”
As far as Rittenhouse goes, I was clearly disappointed in the verdict, yes…’Pissed’ no…It is the world we live in, like it or not…I do like Lynn’s idea though, ” Allowing retired military or law enforcement persons to occupy job positions to protect the schools.” Leave the teachers out of it.
Recently shared by a parent who lost their child at Sandy Hook Elementary…
” “We, as eligible voters, cannot be “Slack-tivists” any longer. We need to educate ourselves about something as simple and straightforward as Legislation, have awareness about common-sense, gun-safety protection and be furiously proactive.
We need to be aware and acknowledge that 5 out of 9 Supreme Court Justices are in the thrall of the rightwing, extremists influenced by the NRA. We’re done talking to the Republicans or reasoning with them. We need to fire them. Democrats in Congress need to hold voters responsible.
If we keep fighting to vote and giving people a reason to vote, we will have or should have, a presidential-year turnout, and we will be okay. Majority Leader Schumer announced today there will be votes on gun-safety measures, which 90% of American voters want.
It’s a big deal, because even if it fails, now the sides are clear.”
Charles Blow weighs in: “We ALL know that the single-issue voting pattern on the Right is with the NRA supplying the narrative on questions about guns.
It appears that the Republican Party is in cahoots together with the NRA, as they’re all singing from the same hymnal, by preaching the menacing message to the American people for decades.
Whether that menace is immigrants, Blacks, or even the government, it gives a rational reason to arm ourselves from a menace. It’s propaganda. But if individuals believe the NRA and Republican logic that menace is at their front doors, they’re convinced that gun laws need changing in order to LOWER barriers to purchase, own and carry assault weapons.
In other words, increasing the rhetoric for Americans to be armed, utilizing redundancies and repetition of these narratives, results in Americans getting used to massacres. There’s not even a space to mourn the last tragedy, as witnessed with the Buffalo shooting, during which people have yet to be buried.
Perhaps, those Americans who feel strongly about common-sense gun-safety reform need to be as fierce about single-issue voting as the Right. With 90% public opinion for gun protections, perhaps Democrats need to declare a cultural war on gun deaths. It only makes sense.”
Gun control and reducing public violence have several underlying issues compounding the debates. Certainly, mental illness and our inadequate way of identifying it and treating it is a major factor. The general breakdown of our culture is another. The news media plays a major role too in giving the shooter (s) notoriety, which in many cases is a major contributing factor for the action. Then there are the liberal prosecutors and judges that often fail to prosecute or release crimianls back into society. Police officers have told me that a person, even with a long rap sheet, that is arrested is often back on the street before the cop gets off duty. Respect for others is a rarity and is fed by the breakdown of family units, parental failings, and an increasingly liberal educational system. We see this shift to anger being expressed through violence at every turn it seems. Mass shootings, road rage, family abuse, suicides, and even posts of social network sites.
The “assult rifle” style of weapon is not the problem. They only differ from a traditional hunting rifle in looks and a short barrell. Both guns are semi-automatic and fire once for each trigger pull. As to the larger ammo clip that is nonsense. I once had a hunting rifle with a 30-round clip, and with two taped together I could fire 60 rounds just as fast as if it were an AR-style gun. Did I hunt with it? Of course not, it was a collector piece and a target rifle.
It seems that the liberal factions have been successful in demonizing guns while ignoring homemade bombs (think Boston marathon, and Oklahoma) and vehicles (which kill more people than guns).
Thank you for your perspective Mr. Vincent…It seems the above comment I have shared with respect to a Sandy Hook parent has triggered some confusion. That comment was not in response to yours, however it is clear we sit on both sides of the fence.
It is true there is a breakdown in the system with respect to the family unit, lack of effective parental guidance, and a lack of respect for not just the law, but each other. Social media has made it far too easy to ‘fire at will’ at those we do not agree with.
I agree the news media (on both sides of the coin) plays a major role in ‘triggering’ all of us. As I stated in my article, I have no problem with people owning guns…People who are properly trained and licenced that is.
That said, as far as the AR-15 goes…IMHO, there is no place for it in civilian hands, unless you are a trained law enforcement officer or military personnel.