Activist Wednesday: A Gun Is Only As Smart As Its Wielder...

Posted by: madamab on: January 23, 2013

• In: Current Events | Morning Widdershins | Obama | Open Thread | Politics
• 15 Comments

And sadly, we know how many people in America are complete dumbasses. Case in point: there has been another school shooting, this time at a “college” in Texas.

Multiple people were shot in a shooting at Lone Star College in north Houston, Texas some time before 12:50 PM. Police are describing the incident as an “altercation between two individuals,” one of whom had student ID and a hand gun. Both are now in police custody and experienced gun wounds.  A maintenance man was caught in the crossfire and was shot in the leg. A woman on the scene was hospitalized for a medical condition.

The Lone Star website states that the college employs armed police officers and unarmed security guards. Five days ago, Texas Sen. Brian Birdwell (R) and 13 other Republican authors introduced legislation that would allow individuals with concealed weapon permits to carry firearms on campus. The measure failed in the last legislative session, but is now up for debate in the aftermath of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Gosh, Senator Birdwell, I’m reporting you to the AMA as a medical miracle. You are the only person in the world who can live, breathe and function without possessing a working brainstem!

But seriously folks…I find it interesting that the armed police officers being on campus did not prevent this tragedy from occurring, despite the fact that this very idea is being seriously considered by Obama and the Congress to help deal with our gun violence problem. The problem is that the police officers a) can’t be everywhere at once, and b) can only act AFTER the violence has occurred. Now, if you let students carry concealed on campus, you have a far greater chance of drunken, hormone-addled young people who think they’re invincible, escalating a simple disagreement into death and destruction for not just themselves, but others. What kind of numbskull would think this was a good idea?

Let’s think for a minute about all the people you know or knew. How many of them are wise enough to handle a deadly weapon safely and responsibly? Think of the people you have encountered who are difficult and/or have poor impulse control. Like the idea of handing them a handgun, do you? Hell, even some of the ones who claim to know what they’re doing, who sell guns regularly, can make terrible mistakes like this….

Emergency personnel had to be called to the scene of the Dixie Gun and Knife Show in Raleigh, North Carolina after a gun accidentally discharged and shot three people at the show’s safety check-in booth just after 1 pm. Both victims were transported to an area hospital, and the Raleigh Fire Department announced that the show would be closed for the rest of the day.

Gun Appreciation Day is the combined effort of dozens of far-right organizations who have been vocal opponents of gun control advocates’ efforts to reduce the number of dangerous weapons on our streets and prevent them from ending up in the hands of people with criminal backgrounds or a history of mental illness. In response to a renewed push for sensible reforms of gun laws after the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, groups like the National Rifle Association and the founders of Gun Appreciation Day have instead advocated for an increase in the number of guns in public places like elementary schools, arguing — falsely — that more guns will mean more protection for individuals.

But today’s unfortunate accident, which took place at a safety check in surrounded by hundreds of people who presumably have at least some training on how to properly handle a dangerous weapon, undermines that case. Earlier this week, an armed security officer at a Michigan charter school accidentally left his gun in a restroom that is regularly used by students as young as five years old.

I swear to Goddess, if guns weren’t so dangerous, peoples’ stupidity about them would be hilarious. As it is, said stupidity kills people. Women, men, adults, children, those of all colors, religions, shapes and sizes. The gun does not discriminate. It can’t – it’s just a mindless killing machine. Oh yes, we hear all the time that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” Clearly sometimes, as in the story above, guns do kill people without human intervention; but in general, we are in a very bad way in our society. People kill people. With guns. A lot. What are we going to do about it?

I only see two things that will help: 1) Make it much, MUCH harder to get guns and ammunition in America; 2) Fix all the dumb and crazy that’s out there. Till we figure out 2), we’re kind of stuck with 1), IMHO.

I do applaud the efforts of those who are trying to do the hard work of figuring out why we in America can’t handle our guns the way our Canadian friends can. Is it our video games? Our lack of universal healthcare? Our culture of work, work, work, work, leaving less time for the mind and body to relax and get/stay healthy? I don’t know, nor, at the moment, do I care. I just want this stupid, stupid, STUPID killing to stop. I don’t care what it takes and I don’t care who whines about their f*cking 2nd Amendment rights. At some point the reality of our situation must outweigh the language that was written hundreds of years ago, before assault weapons and rocket launchers were created.

Let’s amend the 2nd Amendment and get some sanity back into our laws. We must do it now! And if you haven’t seen it, here’s Obama’s proposal. What do you think?

This is an open thread.

About these ads

Tags: activist wednesday, gun violence, school shootings