Whenever there is a tragedy involving a gun, gun owners have been vilified as extremists. Questions are asked. Why do these people need military style weapons? Why do they need guns that fire so many bullets? What are these wackos afraid of?
The answers are simple, the responsible parties for these fears and the actions people are taking are the Federal Government. Our President has made the last 4 years in office a term of divisiveness. Pitting those who “have” against those who “have not”. Going around the country and lying to the people of this country to meet his own agenda. To “fundamentally change our country”. The question is, change into what?
Bottom line, it Is not a question of how many guns one should be able to own, or the type. It is more a matter of asking why when a tragedy such as Sandy Hook happens that the “leaders” of our country focus on the one thing that we have to defend ourselves and our neighbors… GUNS!
I submit that President Obama is responsible for the level of violence, fear and hatred in this country. I say that the level of hatred and divisiveness’ in his term and the disdain he has for our country and the American public is unequaled by any foreign dictator or extremist element. Our government has become a self-serving leviathan, that is focused on the survival of itself not the people of this country.
Mr. President, you are the reason for the fear! You are the reason for the hatred. You are the reason we do not trust. And sir, you are the reason we prepare. The American public are not mindless fools. We see your vision of our great Nation and we reject it!
Here is one for you! http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/12/21/Flashback-Clinton-Cops-in-Schools
Any Discussion on Gun Control Should Also Include a Discussion on Mental Health
A review of known facts show that the Clinton era “Semi-Auto Weapons Ban” in place from 1994 to 2004 had little to no effect on violent crime according to the FBI statistics from that same period. In fact when the ban was lifted in 2004 the violent crime actually decreased from 2004 to present. (FBI stats 1994-2004)
Vice-President Biden has been tasked by President Obama to address and encourage new gun laws in the wake of the tragic shooting in Connecticut. In the past, Biden has proposed draconian firearm restrictions similar to the ones adopted by Australia in 1996. The results of the Australia gun laws are a 69% increase in armed robberies, a 28% increase of assaults with guns, a 19% increase of gun murders and a 21% increase in home invasions in that nation. (National Center for Policy Analysis)
The so called “Assault Weapons Ban” is a misnomer. Fully automatic weapons also correctly called assault weapons have been outlawed since 1936. The ban the president and vice-president is proposing is a ban of semi-automatic guns. If we look to the Australia law the ban would include the most common firearms used by sportsman and average citizens in this country.
Using Chicago as a reference and according to the Chicago police report titled “2011 Chicago Murder Analysis” the murder rate was 931 in 1994 during the Clinton era gun ban. Without the Clinton era gun ban, in 2011 the murder rate was down to 433. Looking across the entire country gun violence is down considerably since the Clinton era gun ban expired.
The bright side of the gun debate is that in areas that have “Right to Carry” laws the crime rate and more importantly violent crimes have gone down measurably.
It must be noted that all of the recent shootings have occurred in “Gun Free Zones”. In reality these areas should be called “No Protection Zones”. Fort Hood, Aurora Colorado and the Stony Hook School were all “Gun Free Zones”. The obvious solution would be to place armed police or armed guards at these sensitive places. In every case in recent history it took armed force to end deadly aggression.
The mental health issue is a much more complex problem to solve. The stigma of mental health must be addressed and the country has to come to grips and admit that this is a real problem. Schools, parents, siblings, police and neighbors have to be taught to recognize the signs and feel free to report and take action. For too long mental health has been ignored by society.
The other aspect of mental health concerns our elected officials. As they enjoy the benefits of a secure work place surrounded by armed guards some of our elected officials are proposing gun laws similar the 1994 Clinton era ban or even worse the Australia model. A quote from Albert Einstein sums it up nicely. He stated; “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Mark Serafinn
Saunemin, Illinois
Well said Mr. Serafinn.