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Blog item: Newtown Connecticut Tragedy

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2 comments, last: Apr-15-2013   Add a comment   Author: GuestWriter (Dec-16-2012)
Categories: Philosophical & Quality of Life, Political

American Ethical Union

The tragedy of the killings in Newtown Connecticut on December 14th is unspeakable. What could be more chilling than the intentional killing of innocents? You are shocked and appalled, shaken to your core. Remember this feeling and do not let it go.

Think of your own children sitting in their classrooms, think of your neighbors' kids waiting at the bus stop, think of the millions of children throughout the country who will be returning to school on Monday. Get inside their heads and their hearts.

Think about the world you want them to see–and think about how painfully far we are from that world at this moment. If you are against violence and for peace this is your moment. This is your time to come forward, to step up, to sound out and make yourself seen and heard. Do not be dissuaded or deterred, stand tall, stand proud. Shout loud and long. Don't stop shouting. You will not be alone. You will not be alone if you act right now. You will not be alone if you go, right now, into the street to demand attention, to insist that you be heard. We are with you.

If you are against limiting access to firearms, if you are working to get legislation passed to make it easier to get guns and carry them–this could be your moment. This could be your wake-up call to alert you that you have been on the wrong path, that your efforts have led to tragedy, that it is time to turn it around. Your guns are not protecting you and they certainly are not protecting us. Let's make it harder, not easier, to get access to lethal force. This is your chance to be a part of the solution. Back off. Stop pestering your elected officials, come join us in the streets–it's not too late for you.

If you are a hunter or shoot guns for sport, this could be your moment, too. It's all about priorities. Are your needs to have and use guns so great that the entire country has to mold itself to those needs? Are you willing, in the name of justice, to curtail your own access to firearms to promote the greater good for all? If so, come forward. Speak about your love of country and your desire to be a good citizen and how that desire leads you to agree that it is time to severely limit access to firearms. Come join us and we'll march shoulder to shoulder.

In the end we all want the same things - opportunity to live a good life and freedom to do so. We have a lot more in common than you might think.

It is time. See you out there.


Sincerely,

Bart Worden
Executive Director
American Ethical Union
 

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Comment by:  PT (David Alexander) (Apr-15-2013)   Web site
Sorry it took a while to respond (I had not noticed the comment come in).

I fully agree with your comment about using external controls that are more manageable and effective, rather than depending on all violent or unstable people being pre-labeled as criminals or mentally unfit so that only peaceful and stable people can buy guns. There will always be violent or mentally ill people who have not yet had encounters with the law or the mental health system. Why should they be able to buy and misuse assault weapons and similar weapons due to that large loophole?

I am certain that the desire for assault weapon freedom is due to a feeling that there will one day be a war between the federal government and the people of the country. A citizenry armed with assault weapons can, according to this theory, fight off the "fascist" federal government. The head of the NRA spoke in front of a group before the election and stated that Obama secretly planned to confiscate the weapons of gun owners, if he got re-elected. It seems that has not happened.

However, while waiting and preparing for this paranoid vision to unfold, how many ten and hundreds of thousands of gun violence victims will pay the price? Is the fantasy of imbalanced individuals addicted to their guns, such as the majority of NRA members, more important than the daily reality of gun deaths and injuries throughout the country? It has been proven that the presence of a gun in a house increases the chance that a resident of that house will die by means of gun violence, rather than increasing their safety.

As for a constitutional amendment to clarify the 2nd amendment, it is a good idea whose time, unfortunately, has not yet come, when the congress can barely pass any legislation, even the weakest conceivable, regulating the use of guns. However, it also seems possible that as social consciousness evolves, there will in a currently unclear future, be a societal wish to change the Constitution and the attitude and policies toward gun ownership, so that the right to life is not taken away from those of any age.
  
Comment by: City Worker (Dec-18-2012)   

It appears that stricter gun control would definitely have prevented the terrible Newtown tragedy. Time and time again, removing temptation, rather than relying on the internal control of mentally healthy and unhealthy people and societies, is utilized to prevent undesirable behavior – everything from eating the wrong foods to blowing up the world.
But maybe it’s time for an Amendment to the Constitution, interpreting the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. Much has changed, weapons-wise since the days of the Second Amendment. Something is wrong when the society does not assure the right of a six-year-old to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

  
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