Congress holds gun violence hearings and out come the kooks

The day after a father whose child was slaughtered testified before a state hearing on gun control and was heckled by the NRA, and on the day that Gabby Giffords testified before a Senate hearing on gun violence (make sure to watch the video – she is powerful), I came across this.

Because we all know that kids (and Barton specifically references elementary school kids) have such great judgment and such a wonderful sense of life and death that they could surely be responsible enough to carry guns to school. All in the name of preventing gun violence. What could go wrong there?

Yes, in an interview with has-been Glenn Beck, David Barton said that.



Here’s another little snippet from his show on WallBuilders Live on 17 January.

So the purpose of the Second Amendment was you have got to be able to defend yourself, your rights, period against anybody and that sometimes means it may be your government coming after you. So if the government has got AR-15s, guess what? The people can have AR-15s ... Whatever the government's got, you've got to be able to defend yourself against. So there was no limitation on what you could or couldn't do with the Second Amendment; it was a self-defense amendment and if everybody is coming at you AR-15s, you don't defend yourself with BB guns, you get AR-15s.

OK, so I know! The government has nuclear weapons. Can I buy one at the gun counter at Wal-Mart? Or missiles? Or even RPGs? Oh, what’s that you say? We already have access to those?

Well then. See? Our second amendment must be working because no elementary school kids have shot up a school with an RPG launcher or nuclear weapon yet. Makes perfect sense to me.

Wayne LaCrazysauce testified in the hearings as well, and in part said this (via addictinginfo.org)

“It’s time to throw an immediate blanket of security around our children. About a third of our schools have armed security already – because it works.”

Except when it doesn’t work in places like Columbine or Virginia Tech or Red Lake where armed, trained guards were on staff and on the facility. Or Westside Middle School where the shooters, aged 11 and 13 pulled the fire alarm which dumped the entire student body outside of the school where they shot and killed five and wounded 10 with guns they got from their parents.

Or when armed guards leave their weapons in the student bathroom after taking a dump.

Also? This is not just about school safety. This is about public safety – protecting our citizens, wherever they are – in movie theaters, firefighting, at school, at work. Shall every place of business have armed guards? Shall every retail establishment have armed guards? I suppose that’s one way to create jobs.

Bob Costas spoke about gun culture on The Daily Show on Monday. He has a great point. Until we change the pro-gun culture in our country, we will not curb gun violence. A big step in that is to educate our people on the dangers of guns – that they are more harmful than helpful, cause more deaths than save lives.

Said Costas, in part:

"I think any sane person believes we ought not have high capacity magazines and assault rifles and that there ought to be background checks," Costas said. "You know what? I'm not exactly sure what's sane, but I know a lot of what I've heard in the aftermath is insane." (emphasis mine)

So true. Like arming schoolchildren.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Also, a quick note about Giffords. It warms my heart to see how much progress she's made. She is truly an inspiration. But I'm also saddened when I think about all the great things she could have been doing in Congress the past 2 years.

And having mentioned the Giffords incident - one other note, and that is about mental illness. The NRA would have you believe that mental illness is the real problem here. That is untrue. The mentally ill are not the cause of gun violence in America. Mentally ill people are far more likely to harm themselves than others. We must deal with mental illness, yes, but it is a health issue not a gun control issue. We need to eliminate the stigma, treat it like any other organic illness, and cover it with insurance in the same manner. Not only will we help the mentally ill, we might even make headway in the homelessness problem we face and other socioeceonomic concerns.

But that will not stop gun violence on the streets of America.

Wake up and smell the coffee. Our people are dying. In vast numbers. We must do something. We must act now.

Congress and society alike.