Get all the spoons out of our homes too. Spoons are making our kids fat!
If guns kill people, spoons make Mikhail Moore fat.
Posted on 10/13/2006 2:33:17 PM PDT by NapkinUser
More school shootings, and the inevitable commentary on the evening news: "I didn't think this sort of thing could happen here."
The heartfelt, but naive belief that murderous rampages "don't happen here" begs the question: "Where do you think such things happen?"
Labels exist for the places where shootings occur: urban, inner city.
But one thing urban folks can tell their scared suburban friends right now is that a good part of the horrendous violence in their communities is due to the proliferation of guns.
Sometimes it seems like everyone is packing. Someone disrespects your girl? Shoot 'em. Someone looks at you wrong? Shoot 'em. Someone mouths off to you at a party? Shoot 'em.
So for once, maybe the suburbs and rural America can take a cue from the cities: "Get the guns out of your homes."
Because while much of America lulled itself into believing that these things "do not happen here," they were also stockpiling. Where they live guns are used for hunting, for target practice and for a misplaced sense of security. I get that, my mother's family has those references. Mother's stories about growing up on the Kansas farm often involve guns.
There was the time when grandfather's favorite dog turned up rabid. "Get the gun!" Grandpa shouted from the field, knowing he had to shoot his dog before it bit his family.
There are stories about hunting rabbits and duck for dinner and shooting coyotes so they wouldn't kill the livestock.
But mother gave up fetching food from the woods long ago. She goes to the grocery now. She feels safe with good locks on the house. Grandfather's guns have been passed down as family heirlooms, not loaded weapons.
She has no use for a gun.
More people who live in these "couldn't happen here" communities need to come to the same revelation.
Because for all the recent head scratching about how to prevent more school shootings, studies have made several things clear: School shooters almost always are boys. The shootings are planned attacks, not spur of the moment. And the guns come from the shooters' homes.
We need to quit dancing around these facts, starting with the president. George Bush's recent summit should have been titled "Gun violence in schools."
Apparently that would have been too to-the-point. So it was proclaimed the less accurate but more benevolent, "Conference on School Safety."
The little political commentary about guns in schools has been insane commentary. Wisconsin Rep. Frank Lasee proposes teachers carry guns. Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt made the same suggestion, until smarter heads backed him away from the idea.
Arm the teachers? How about disarm the kids?
The best way to do that would be to address where school shooters get their guns - from their homes. Oh I know, people will talk about their right to bear arms, the need for self-protection, that they like to hunt wild game. All are understandable replies.
But anyone giving these answers should also honestly address two questions: Do you really need a gun in the house, and if so, how secure is it? And, how well do you know your son?
I can hear the refrain now: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." Nice slogan.
Here's the truth: Troubled boys with access to their parents' guns have killed their classmates, their teachers and quite often, themselves.
And yes, it can happen anywhere.
Instead of this nonsense, join the NRA, write letters, vote.
Hmmmm....profiling at its worst... Would that this cretin also espouse the use of "profiling" Arabs and Muslims at airports.... Hypocrites, one and ALL....
I am a member, I do occasionally write letters, I own guns, and I vote.
It's not an either/or situation.
Some of us can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Oh, she'll shoot him. Just like Carl Rowan did, a big gun control, anti-handgun Washington columnist hypocrite.
What they really mean is that YOU shouldn't have a gun.
I grew up in a neighborhood so tough they didn't bother to use guns -- they inserted the bullets manually.
I was raised in the country with guns stacked in every corner. Never had an inclination to shoot up my classmates. Used them to kill squirrels and small game for eating. Wow, how have times changed!
I agree, and I thank your dad for his bravery and heroism through you as his proxy. My hat is off to him, and I doff it with great respect, admiration and appreciation for his service.
You've listed many of my favorite musical groups, too. Nothing better than the Beatles, Jeffeson Airplane, the Beach Boys and Simon and Garfunkel. I would add the Mamas and the Papas to the list. Great lyrics and harmony. I liked Mersey beat, too. Your synopsis of rap is right on, and I would add the violence factor in that genre is very bad news culturally, both as a reflection and for what the dark ideas it advances in the minds of our young.
National Geographic channel is superb, as are several others, including the History channel. We watch quite a bit of that stuff. You might be interested in the Blue Planet series being shown weekly on Animal Planet. I wish kids would watch that stuff instead of MTV, which is really nothing more than porn and violence. What a difference that would make, eh? Drumming that garbage into their heads day in and day out is a large factor in the difficulties we are having with our youth. I don't know why kids are allowed to watch. Take away the market, the incentive is gone, and it would dry up. people need to take a stand.
Agreed, crapola of the first order.
Or maybe, just maybe, the cities can take a cue from suburban and rural America.
Keep fathers involved in the families.
Have fathers teach their children how, and when, to use firearms.
No. Most of the REPORTED shootings have been school shootings- just the kind the media likes. Shootings happen EVERY day and never seem to involve LEGAL weapons. There's the difference. People , like the dimwit who wrote this article, could care LESS if we all kill each other. They care about gaining power and KEEPING it and that won't happen until we all behave like sheep- including making sure we cannot defend ourselves against them.
And yes, it can happen anywhere.
When will we learn and stop having kid's? /s
There is no Constitutional right to have a school. On the other hand....
Perhaps this idiot wrote this worthless screed at home with a pen or pencil? She should take her own advice and get them out of her home, immediately, along with all her kitchen knives, forks, and meat tenderizers.
I (or anybody else with the desire) could easily kill her with any of these innocent items she festoons her house with.
This is what we will contend with every minute of every day if the Dims take the house and senate.
It will be all the driveby media talks about.
Yes, please move to a different neighborhood and post a sign that says "unarmed occupants". That way we can keep the criminals focused.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.