Hi Everyone,
I was going to post something else today but since there was ANOTHER shooting in the United States yesterday I decided to post this instead.
On January 29, 2013 while I was scanning some Tweets, I came across one that caught my eye. It is from an American and it said, “Can we add an amendment to the constitutions that guarantees us the right to not be shot down in cold blood?” That Tweet was one day before ANOTHER shooting. I replied with, “As a Canadian, I feel for every American who has to worry about their safety. 🙁 ”
And I was a little worried that when I turned on CNN yesterday, to get a quick hourly update that they were more concerned with the weather than another shooting! Since when are shootings being reported 7 minutes after the weather? I understand that the weather is big news but really? With all the talk of guns, gun violence, and gun reform I expected that the shooting would be top of mind. I was clearly mistaken.
Just for the record, guns don’t bother me. What does bother me or scare me rather, is that a lot of guns are easily accessible to people who have, let’s say, issues. Countless studies state that people with mental health issues are only responsible for about 4% of all the gun violence and/or deaths in the United States. Regardless of what the countless studies state, I’m not buying what they are selling.
It is as fact that, the United States is 5% of the world’s population BUT Americans own 50% of the world’s guns. From that 50% of the world’s guns, there are over 30,000 reported gun related injuries or deaths per year in the US. (Not all criminals who are shot willingly get medical attention for fear of incarceration and who knows how many people are killed and never reported missing, so that number is more than 30,000.) One expert said that if it were not for medical intervention and medical advancements, that number would be higher! That is scary!!!
Unfortunately a woman from Chicago (?) had 4 of her 6 adult children killed by guns. Yes you read that correctly, 4 of her 6 adult children were killed by guns. What are the odds? Chicago is not exactly known for being the safest place but really? It was reported that one of her adult children was mistakenly shot while sitting in a car.
And yes I do remember that a nine-year-old boy, who while sitting on his couch in his new living room was shot and then later died in a Toronto hospital most likely because someone mistook the new tenants for the old ones. We, too, have our share of gun violence.
Do I think that gun reform will decrease gun violence? No. In fact, I am of the view that gun violence is only going to increase, a lot more in both America and here in Canada. And I also am of the belief that if it weren’t for the abortion laws in the States, (Roe vs… a chapter in Freakonomics) that all forms of violence would have been on the rise since that law.
When people feel threatened, or believe that they should protect themselves so that they don’t or won’t feel as threatened now or in the future they generally take precautions beforehand. Doomsday Preppers know this all too well. It is my understanding that very, very few Doomsday Preppers do not own at least one gun. In fact the majority of Doomsday Preppers own several guns and hundreds or thousands of bullets for each! (Here’s a link to a blog about them, http://arebelsrant.com/doomsday-preppers/ )
My question is just how many supposedly sane people are buying the ammunition? If they are sane today, will they still be sane if they deem that something or someone is threatening them? Panic is never pretty. Panic, or fear of loss, brings out the worst in people.
Gun violence and gun related deaths are on the rise on both sides of the border. Sometimes I wish that Americans would recognize this and become like Australia but let’s face it, that’s never going to happen. Americans strongly believe that it is their right to own guns and that is why they keep reminding everyone about their amendments always forgetting about the right to life.
Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D
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