More thoughts on guns and rights

I've heard guns compared to cars. You know, guns don't kill people. Just like cars don't kill people. The drivers do.

Here's a thought for you.

Cars, and drivers, are well-regulated. They must meet certain safety standards. Both the cars AND the drivers. Drivers need to take a class on the rules of the road and basic safety in order to obtain a license to drive. Yes, a LICENSE. And... they have to prove themselves competent every 4 years to continue to drive a car.

Cars must meet safety standards. In order to be driven on public roads, cars have to maintain a certain level of safety, fuel efficiency, air quality. They must have safety belts. Whereas guns are not required to have a safety on the trigger.

You need a license to drive. To fish. To hunt. All of these things are regulated - fish of certain size must be thrown back. You can only kill a certain number of animals and some animals are protected. When you obtain a license to do any of these things, you agree to these regulations.

Why then do we allow anyone to obtain a weapon, many times without undergoing a background check, without requiring safety and training courses on a recurring basis, without ensuring that the weapons meet basic safety standards?

Ordinary people can't drive military vehicles like tanks on the road. Why should ordinary people be allowed to own military grade weaponry?

Why do we refuse to recognize that the rest of the free world has regulations in place and is much safer for it? Like the healthcare debate, we are so sure that our way is best. That the rest of the world should learn from us rather than taking the opportunity to learn from the successes of the rest of the world.

And for those who cry "But the Constitution!! It's my RIGHT!" would do well to remember a couple things. First, that the 2nd amendment calls for a well regulated militia. Well. Regulated. And second, that we have an amendment process for a reason. Our founding fathers knew that things would change, as society always does. They built in a process for making those changes.

Thomas Jefferson acknowledged that he never expected the Constitution to remain inflexible and unchanged:

"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."

~Thomas Jefferson

Inscribed on the Jefferson Memorial. (emphasis mine)

click to enlarge

Americans are arrogant, plain and simple. We are at a point where we refuse to acknowledge that we could learn from others'; mistakes. We are still a very young country compared to countries in Europe and Asia. We have a lot to learn. It's time that we become more flexible and take in the wisdom of those around us.

A thought on guns in schools

Like so many Americans and so many around the world, I take issue with the NRA's idiotic proposal to post armed guards at every school in America for so many reasons. Too numerous to name - and the media has gone through most of them. They are plentiful and obvious.

But the biggest problem I have with with it is one I haven't heard discussed much. Let me start with a story. (as always!)

My youngest son is a sophomore in high school. He's a very sensitive kid. As well as being adorable, smart as a whip, talented, etc etc etc... We had a long discussion about Sandy Hook on the day it happened. He was understandably horrified.

Last Thursday we got a robo-call from our high school principal. He noted that there were rumors going around about how there would be violence at school on Friday because of "the end of the world". He explained that these were simply rumors, there was no credible threat, and that our local PD would have extra security on campus and parents shouldn't worry.

Great - but what about the kids? Nobody ever thinks about the psychological impact of repeated threats of violence on kids in school. My son's response was "Oh great. Cops on campus. We must be so safe." (insert the sarcasm only a teenager is capable of delivering).

Well, the end of the world came and went, and along with it came Wayne LaPierre's unbelievably stubborn, ignorant, and horrifying suggestion to put armed guards at every school. Ignorant because it won't work. Is he aware that Columbine had an armed guard on duty? Is he aware that most shopping malls have armed guards? Should we put an armed guard at every movie theater, every fire, every house of worship? A single person armed with handguns or even a shotgun is no match for an adult wearing body armor with a semi-automatic or automatic weapon that shoots 30-60 rounds in the space of a minute or less. It just isn't.

Stubborn because LaPierre flies in the face of the desires of Americans and even his own NRA constituency. Most of us want some sort of gun control - the average citizen does not want or need a high capacity magazine or a weapon that shoots hundreds of bullets in hundreds of seconds. I have a friend who said it best. The only hunting done by those weapons is human hunting.

And horrifying because the majority of us picture more guns on campus, more opportunities for anger management by gunfire, and more ways to frighten our children.

So back to my story. I could see in my son's face and eyes the fear wrought be the idea of the need for armed guards at his school. And he's a teen. He has seen violent movies. He's played violent video games (though thankfully, he doesn't really care for them much - yay!). He sits at the dinner table and discusses current events with us. He's well aware that violence exists. And yet he fears the implication that his "safe place" - school - is unsafe. The place where he goes - without his parents - every day, could be the place that he is most vulnerable. Imagine how that fear would multiply if he was still in elementary school.

And so I hugged my boy and reassured him that he was safe. That his school was safe. That his world was a safe place and he can live his carefree life as always. Like a child should. Free to explore, learn and thrive in a safe place.

Although his delivery could have been a hell of a lot better, even President Bush (the worst president. EVAR) didn't want us to live like we were intimidated or afraid after 9/11. Yes, the whole "go shopping" thing was incredibly poorly delivered. But the sentiment behind it - your world is safe - was a good one. Too bad he then fearmongered the rest of his presidency in order to win elections and restrictions on freedoms and went on to become the worst president in American history, but that's a story for another day. Bottom line was, when the horrifying events of 9/11 happened, President Bush tried to reassure us that we were safe in going about our everyday business. He didn't tell us to be afraid (that came later, of course).

I don't want my children living in fear every day. Having armed guards on campus doesn't make kids feel safer. It makes them more fearful. It makes them think they are in perpetual danger. It makes them think that they are not safe. And it will make some of them more likely to bring weapons on campus in order to protect themselves from that unknown evil. And children and guns DO. NOT. MIX. Because guns are not an anger management tool. They are not a fear management tool. They are deadly weapons that kill. And people who live in fear are more likely to use deadly force if it is at their disposal.

I want my kids to grow up knowing that there are times when bad people do bad things, but that most of us are law-abiding, good people. I don't want them to be distrustful of all they meet. I want them to be open to new experiences. Open to meeting new people. Open to new and different ideas. Open to learning how to have disagreements and resolve them. Without violence. To know that there are so many ways to learn from others and that our way is not always the ONLY way. That when you don't agree with someone, it's ok to yell and scream, but it's never ok to use violence to solve disagreements. Any sort of violence, but especially deadly violence. And I want other people's children to learn these same things, so that my kids don't need to live in fear of being shot in a disagreement, or road rage, or by a trigger-happy fearful armed guard who refuses to let kids learn and grow by having heated disagreements on campus.

Placing armed guards at their "safe place" makes that impossible for my kids and yours. It removes their feelings of safety - and school is the only safe place for so many kids who face uncertainty at home, whether financial or emotional. It is the one stable environment for so many kids.

I don't want my boys heading off for 8 hours a day to a place that makes them afraid for their lives. What does that do to our next generation of kids? And their emotional stability? Their psychological well-being?

I urge you to call your Congressmen and Senators and implore... no... DEMAND that they reinstitute the assault weapons ban as a first step toward making our kids safer.

How America’s priorities are effed up

We perseverate on the wrong things here in America. No, we do. I wasn’t planning on posting about the horrific tragedy in Connecticut last Friday, because I can’t even hear about it on the radio without busting into tears. So I'm not going to do the emotion-packed post. I just can't. And many much more eloquent than me have talked about their ruminations on how God could allow this to happen. However, our misplaced priorities struck me as I was scrolling through my blog feed this morning.

On 9/11, hijackers used box cutters to overpower the airlplanes. So now? We have no real silverware on planes and we can’t take little pointy combs onto airplanes. No seriously. My hubby’s 90 yo grandmother had hers confiscated at security.

We had one crazy dude put a bomb in his shoe. Now? Every single passenger has to take off their shoes to go through security. In 2012, they finally acknowledged that little old ladies are unlikely to place a bomb in their shoes, so if you’re over 75, you get a reprieve. Gee, thanks!

We had someone come on board with liquid explosives, so now? You can’t bring your own water on board. Can’t afford $5 for an 8 oz bottle of water on the other side of security? Tough luck. Other things you can’t bring on board? Peanut butter. No. Seriously. During Pesach last year, I was traveling on business. It was 2-day trip, so I avoided a check-in bag as I like to do. Problem was, I had my matzah crackers and unopened small (albeit larger than 3 oz) jar of peanut butter in my carry-on. Guess what went into the trash? Yup. Peanut butter.

So…

We’ve had 62 mass shootings in the last 30 years. And hundreds of thousands of gun-related “non-mass-shooting” deaths since then. The answer? Take away the guns? Don't be ridiculous (^TM Balki). The answer is, of course, MOAR GUNS.

How does that make sense?

In the same breath they contend that women have thousands of abortions every year. The answer? Outlaw abortion! But of course!

How does that make sense?

Well, you see. Abortions are about the wiminz, and GUNS are about the MANLY MEN and making the MANLY MEN feel MANLY. Think I'm wrong? Good luck convincing me. I saw this great quote today from Eclectablog: "If only guns were as well regulated in this country as vaginas are."

Oh, and also? We should arm teachers. With assault rifles. Teachers who, by the way, do not wish to be armed. Because, yeah. What could go wrong there? Mother Jones did a thorough study on mass shootings in America and how many were prevented by an armed civilian taking out a shooter. The answer? Zero. None. Zilch. Nada. Although, several of those armed civilians did manage to get themselves killed in the attempt. Brave of them, but freaking stupid.

Also, these same people who now want to arm teachers and other educators with assault rifles in the classroom (I shit you not) are the same people who think teachers are worthless sacks of shit who are union thugs getting paid bazillions of dollars for part time work. So… if we arm them, don’t we have to train them? (Naaaahhh.) And if we train them as first responders, don’t we have to include them in all the exemptions that other first responder unions get in all those right to work (for less) states? The right to have a union shop. The right to collectively bargain.

Make up your minds America!! Are teachers worthless bags of crap who don’t do a thing for our children or are they amazingly qualified to take care of our children under the worst kind of duress?

And why why why doesn’t the media call out this kind of idiotic hypocrisy? Also, why doesn't the media just give the stats on gun-related deaths - you know... REPORT the FACTS instead of worrying about being seen as "left-leaning".

And for the many who blame this horrible tragedy on homosexuality, or abortion pills, or WHERE IS GOD IN OUR SCHOOLS?!?!, I say screw you. God has been out of our schools for over 200 years. And if this is God’s way of punishing us, did you ever stop to think maybe He is sick of your self-righteous, homophobic, misogynist, Christian-supremacy ways? Maybe he wants YOU to shut up instead of everyone else. Maybe He’s telling you that you DON’T speak for Him.

Whoa, calm yourself, Lori. God and our personal private feelings about Him are just that. Private. Personal.

That is off topic, however I somehow don’t think that the families burying their babies in temples and churches as a result of gun violence in Connecticut and across the nation think it’s because they abandoned God. They likely do think, however, it’s because anyone can buy an assault weapon and magazines, and hollowpoint bullets only intended for military use, and shoot up their little children.

When you say " if the principal should have had an assault rifle she wouldn't have died", how do you think you make her family feel? That brave woman died trying to save her students and you demean her like that?

When you say that "if George Zimmerman had been there, those children would still be alive", you place a murderer in higher esteem than small children and the educators who gave their lives to protect them.

When you say that those little babies could have prevented this if only someone had taught them to rush the gunman (because we all know that 8 or 10 6-year olds can easily defeat a heavily armed adult male), you blame this massacre on the victims. Think what that does to their parents?

When you blame this on homosexuals or abortion, well... I got nothing. You're just an effing stupid lunatic.


How about we take care of the obvious first, hmmm?

Like this:
- Charlotte Bacon, 6
- Daniel Barden, 7
- Rachel Davino, 29.
- Olivia Engel, 6
- Josephine Gay, 7
- Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 6
- Dylan Hockley, 6
- Dawn Hochsprung, 47
- Madeleine F. Hsu, 6
- Catherine V. Hubbard, 6
- Chase Kowalski, 7
- Jesse Lewis, 7
- James Mattioli, 6
- Grace McDonnell, 7
- Anne Marie Murphy, 52
- Emilie Parker, 6
- Jack Pinto, 6
- Noah Pozner, 6
- Caroline Previdi, 6
- Jessica Rekos, 6
- Avielle Richman, 6
- Lauren Rousseau, 30
- Mary Sherlach, 56
- Victoria Soto, 27
- Benjamin Wheeler, 6
- Allison N. Wyatt, 6

זִכְרוֹנוֹ לִבְרָכָה May their memories be for a blessing.

Quote of the day: Oops, Matt Lauer is a jerk

"It was obviously an unfortunate incident. It kind of made me sad on two accounts. One was that I was very sad that we live in an age when someone takes a picture of another person in a vulnerable moment, and rather than delete it, and do the decent thing, sells it. And I’m sorry that we live in a culture that commodifies the sexuality of unwilling participants."
Actress Anne Hathaway with an incredibly classy and insightful "shame on you" to Matt Lauer on the Today show

Because some idiot photographer caught her getting out of a car in a short skirt that rode a little too high, and before she could pull it down, said photographer grabbed a crotch shot and sold & posted it on the internet. And because Matt Lauer, being the very hard-hitting investigative reporter & journalist and all-around really decent guy that he is, needed to not only embarrass a woman on his show, but also bring it to the attention of thousands of unaware viewers so they could all go have a peek at the peek show, too.

Yay freedom of the press!

Don't get me wrong - freedom of the press is hugely important. It's one of the strongest tenets of our society. But think back to why it's in our constitution. It is so the press can speak out against policy and government without fear of retribution. I'm guessing it wasn't so we could post crotch shots of celebrities without their consent or knowledge. So yes, it's important for us to have freedom of the press.

Matt Lauer had the audacity to ask about her "wardrobe malfunction". First off, it wasn't a wardrobe malfunction. She wasn't in front of millions of people intentionally drawing attention to herself. She was getting out of a car and adjusting her clothing. Because Matt Lauer never has to adjust his coat or pants when he steps out of a car.

"What is the lesson learned from something like that?" he asked.

Lesson learned? Other than you're a complete douchebag? How about this? Our press needs to find something useful and important to report on, rather than trying to titillate and enable the dumbing down of our society and encouraging the misogynist attitudes that seek to nullify strong, talented, accomplished women.

Because nothing else important is going on in our country right now that might need the attention of the press for which that amendment was designed.
*coughfiscalcliffdebtceilingvotingrightsworkersrightswomensrightscough*