Guns DO kill


I get a little hot when I hear, "Guns don't kill; people kill," so I wrote about it. My opinion piece published today gives evidence to show that the presence of firearms alone spurs gun violence.  We live in a uniquely gun-loving culture and bear the consequences of living in the most armed nation in the world.
Eugene Beniek's comment to my editorial explains the reason for Americans' lack of common sense about guns—they’re flooded by propaganda from the National Rifle Association.  Beniek quotes The Nation:
And though the NRA has been roundly mocked for its public relations effort this week, officials are watching what is sure to be a flood of new cash.

Here’s why: For every gun or package of ammunition sold at participating stores, a dollar is donated to the NRA. The NRA’s corporate fundraising division has several special retail partnerships called “Add-A-Buck,” “NRA Round-Up,” and “Shooting for the Future.” In some cases, these deals allow for customers to contribute a dollar or two to the NRA at the point of purchase; others, like one with Sturm, Ruger & Co., the company led by Mike Fifer, require automatic contributions to the NRA with every purchase. Many of these retail deals are linked to the NRA’s 501(c)4 affiliate, which can, unlike other affiliates of the NRA, spend that money on political advertisements and lobbying.

This year alone, Midway USA, an ammunition company, has given the NRA $1 million through the Round Up program.

In another comment, John Ellenbecker answers the argument that a national database of guns will lead down the slippery slope to confiscation:
Yes, registration can lead to confiscation. We are required to register our motor vehicles, and when a person commits a crime with their motor vehicle, in some instances their motor vehicle gets confiscated.
Unlike other debates, on the matter of gun control the sensible arguments come from one side alone. Arguments against any control of weapons fail any test of reason, perhaps because they are generated by a powerful profit-making propaganda machine—the NRA.  How long will we be pawns of weapons manufacturers who supply the NRA with funds to dupe us?


The Children—Christ figures, December 19, 2012

This time of grieving since the massacre of innocents in Sandy Hook Elementary School is variously described as “horrible,” “tough,” “unendurable,” “tragic.” I suggest the word “holy,” because the dying children remind us of holy themes and they could save us from ourselves.

The life of Christ presents a template for every human life well lived—growing in wisdom and love, suffering with grace, and sacrificing in love for others. Jungian psychologist Robert Johnson writes that the story of Christ can be understood as a process within every one of us—an inner journey.
Read in this way, we can see that Christ is constantly being immaculately conceived and born, is confounding the elders, teaching, being betrayed, being crucified, dying, resurrecting, and is making an ascension. All of these are occurring in every moment; . . .
We have in the children of Sandy Hook—both those who died and those who survived—sacred models of Christ. As holy saviors, they direct our gaze to elevated concerns of enduring value and lead us to awareness of the illness in our gun-loving society.

May the lives of these Christ figures, these holy saviors, not have been sacrificed in vain.



Brenda commented (Dec. 23, 2012 at 11:30 AM):
Yes, we need to look to ourselves and our own society. Thank you, Jeanette.

Comments

Kathleen said…
It's a sad commentary that all cable and mainstream stations interrupted programming to cover NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre's December 21 press conference which was his response to the Sandy Hook school shooting where 27 deaths occurred. His answer was to have federally funded police officers in every school building. The NRA has 3 million members. Do you think AARP , with 40 million members, will get the same media coverage with the numbers of members who will die from cuts to social security and medicare?
Anonymous said…
This gun control controversy thing certainly has been whipped to a frenzy again… Amidst renewed gun control rhetoric and activism all manner of assault guns and high capacity clips are flying off the shelves. I’m not sure what “the answer” is re: guns… and I’m pretty sure there is not just one answer... It’s a complex issue that spans a spectrum of emotions, values, agendas, perspectives and possibilities… and every viewpoint can shed some more light…

I wonder if how we craft guns and how we "regulate" guns is less important than how we craft our self-identities and our collective identity and how we "relate" with ourselves and with each other…?

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