Recreational Shooting for Kids

           Today’s front page article in the Times (Selling a New Generation on Guns) shockingly dramatizes what those of us who fear gun violence fear most:  how Americans get addicted to using guns.  You can always find evidence that training children to use guns safely cuts down on accidents while using guns.  It is hard to find definitive evidence that an addiction to violent video games causes its users to become violent in real life.  But one thing is sure: having an unguarded weapon in the home makes it easier for shooters to use them to commit atrocities like Newtown and Aurora.

            Everyone now knows the Newtown assassin was trained at a gun club to use his AR15 effectively.  It seems he killed practically everyone he shot.  Hurray!  There’s also definitive evidence that veterans with PTSD have used the guns they bring back with them to kill members of their families, incident civilians in their community, and themselves.  They were also very well trained to use their weapons at firing ranges.

            NRA members who are avid supporters of gun clubs and manufacturers say shooting guns is fun for everyone and a sport.  What they neglect to say is that most users also find it addictive in the same way as playing video games can become a day-long activity.  Millions of dollars are spent buying both guns and games.  According the article mentioned above, gun manufacturers sponsor competitions for kids and promote violent games in their catalogues and in ads in gun magazines.

            People who keep guns in the home for protection or for recreation claim that gun control advocates don’t really understand how having a weapon provides peace of mind to the head of the household.  But the shooters profiled above weren’t necessarily heads of households.  They were the children and relatives of someone who kept guns unguarded in their homes.  One seven year who brought a gun deposited in his book bag to school without his knowledge was ready to give it to one of his classmates when his mother showed up to apologetically admit she forgot it was in his bag.  Is that your example of a responsible gun owner?  How many other stupid parents like her are out there?

            There are too many incidents involving tragedies caused by the millions of guns already out there in this country.  One thing is obvious: limiting the sale of more dangerous weapons can only prevent a limited number of gun disasters.  But even preventing one would be enough

Anger and Guns

           

When our kids were young, my husband and I made the decision to enroll them in a karate class.  My son was six when he started and my daughter was thirteen (she was training in gymnastics when she was younger.)

            We both agreed down through the years that this was the best decision we ever made for our kids.  It gave them confidence and self-discipline and they never had any really bad physical confrontations during their time in the public schools in Manhattan.  Now when I read about the young men who were the perpetrators of gun violence down through the years I am even more thankful about the karate lessons.

            Karate also teaches how to deal with anger and fear through meditation and lessons in self-defense.  Everyone gets depressed from time to time, but the Buddhist philosophy supporting the martial arts enables people to live from day to day without letting these emotions get out of control.

            When I read how many people have committed suicide using guns, I think about my own kids when they were teenagers.  My daughter, especially, seemed angry during most of her teens and my son suppressed his anger by keeping to himself and writing poetry.  Both of them focused on martial arts to energize themselves and learn how to deal with pain.

            The NRA insists that there are no bad guns, only bad people.  But some of those same good people seem to be very angry now that the federal and some state governments are pushing for more gun control.  They say the new laws being proposed would force people to give up weapons they need to protect themselves.  Protect themselves from whom?  People who are angry like they are?

            I say let’s keep angry people away from guns any way we can and I’m relieved that I live in New York State, a place where the governor feels the way I do.

Disclosure

Recently I read two articles focusing on the decision of journalists in a Westchester newspaper to publish the names and addresses of people in their area who owned guns.  Some of the people named actually threatened the reporters and the publisher of the newspaper because of the publicity they received.

            David Carr, the media reporter for the Times, at first felt that the disclosure wasn’t that serious since this information was available for anyone who wanted to look them up in the county records.  But he then changed his mind and felt that the newspaper went too far because they didn’t really explain the motivation behind the revelations in the article.

            My question is this?  In suburban and rural areas people usually own their own homes and condos and may own guns for hunting or protection for their property and families.  How many of those families have children and how many of those children know how to use guns safely?

            In my neighborhood in Manhattan people mostly live in rentals or apartments in high rise buildings with hundreds of families.  Most of us don’t even know our neighbors by sight or name.  How would we feel if we knew that some of the tenants in our building kept guns in their apartments?  I know what happens when the police are notified when criminal suspects are apprehended and caches of guns and ammunition are found in their dwellings?  A couple of years ago an actor in my building who we all knew ended up committing suicide by shooting himself.  All of us were shocked when we read about it in the newspaper.  He was obviously very disturbed about his medical condition, but did he live in our building all those years with a gun in his desk drawer?

            It’s not the right to own a gun legally that I question.  It’s the proliferation of guns and ammunition everywhere in this country that frightens me.  It’s the suggestion that teachers and security officers in school be provided with guns to protect their schools that leaves me breathless in its stupidity.  It’s the fact that some people see gun control as a dictatorial conspiracy on the part of the government to take away their constitutional rights that boggles my mind!

            The mayor of the city of New York is a strong advocate of gun control throughout the nation and I applaud him for his leadership on this issue.  But he also wants the teachers union in the city to agree to contract that would allow the DOE to reveal the names of teachers whose students don’t score well on standardized tests.  He has already published lists of schools where some of those teachers work and has closed down schools which haven’t shown improvement on those citywide tests.  What if an irate parent visits a school and threatens a teacher?  Is the teacher safer if she has a gun in her desk?  I don’t think so.

Empty Warehouses

                                                

Last night on Rachel Maddow’s show I saw a report about a warehouse in Newtown filled with toys and other presents for the kids in the town and their families who survived the shooting.  The volunteers don’t know what to do with all the gifts.

            It made me think how misplaced our values are in this society.  I understand why people all around the world wanted to do something to express their sympathy for this community, but why provide more things that never will replace their lost ones or assuage their grief. 

            There’s only one action that will insure that this kid of tragedy never happens again.  Take guns out of the hands of people who don’t value life.  That doesn’t just mean people like the maniac who killed those 26 people in Newtown.  What about his mother who appear normal but kept all kinds of weapons in her home probably knowing that her son had easy access to all of them? 

            What about the gun manufacturers all over Connecticut who have made a fortune manufacturing all kinds of assault weapons that are easily distributed throughout the United States?

            What about the NRA president that proposed that we distribute even more guns to security officers and other personnel who staff the schools all over the country?  Where will these people keep their guns when they’re not holstering them at the schools?  How many of their own kids would like to get their hands on them when their parents are not working?

            We all know that every state has its own laws about selling and licensing guns for both hunting and other recreational purposes.  Some states even allow adults to bring guns to bars, schools, and other public places.

            Why can’t we have federal regulations about guns that are true for everyone in every state so we don’t have to worry about criminals transporting guns across state lines or buying them by mail illegally from other states?

            Until some of these questions are answered we will continue to have mass shootings in every state in the country and none of children will be safe.  No amount of sympathy gifts can replace the lives lost to guns.

                                                                (1/4/2012)