Public Safety Beyond Gun Control

It has been a tough week for us.

 

I, as well as many others who have watched the video footage from the Boston Marathon bombing, have experienced a disheartening realization concerning the amount of evil in this world.

 

As a matter of fact…scratch my first sentence. It has been a tough YEAR for America.

 

 The news headlines of 2012-2013 have been among the most depressing topics I could imagine. From Sandy Hook to the Boston Bombing, one may begin to feel unsafe in his or her own country. But I’m here to remind everyone to have faith in our nation. We are, in my biased patriotic opinion, the greatest country on earth. Instead of only focusing on the actions of the bomber and the tragedies that followed, think about all the unsung heroes. Not just police officers and first responders, but the citizens who involved themselves in rescue situations.

And lets not forget the FBI and all those involved in the manhunt for the bombers. There are more good people in the world than there are bad ones. We cannot predict the future and we cannot predict this type of violence. We can however, be prepared. And in the realm of being appropriately prepared and responsive, I give the good people of America an A++

 

I realize this post isn’t about gun control. My intention in writing about the bombing is to discuss public safety, the broader category in which gun regulation resides. It is important to feel protected. In cases such as Sandy Hook, 9/11, and the Boston Bombing that require a large scale intervention/response program, officials have done a great job in showing us citizens that our safety is of upmost importance. But on a smaller scale, it is important to be able to protect ourselves and those close to us when there is nobody else around. A feeling of security leads to a peaceful life, which is why I support the ownership of firearms in a frame of proper use/maintenance. 

Stay Safe and God Bless America

Sandy Hook Parent Thoughts on Gun Control

 

If I could pick the perfect spokesperson for my Website, it would be Mark Mattioli, a parent who lost his son in the Sandy Hook school shooting a few months ago.

Obama will be traveling to Newtown, Connecticut, to rally support for his gun control policy. Parents who grieve the loss of their children are especially opinionated on the matter of stricter gun control, with good reason. Anybody who has lost someone to gun violence is understandably supportive of what Obama’s new gun control policy has to offer. However, in a recent interview with Fox News, Mark Mattioli discusses why he feels that “more gun control is not the answer.”

http://foxnewsinsider.com/

This interview was both emotional and educational. Mark, still grieving the loss of his boy, is a good representation of the split opinions about gun control amongst the Sandy Hook families. It is hard to listen to these tragic stories and not feel compelled to help in alleviating the grieving process for these families…which is why so many American’s have hopped on the push for gun control. However, Matiolli understands that further gun restrictions should not be the focus.

I agree with Mark when he says that “gun control only works for law abiding citizens.” This has been a popular theme in my recent work. Instead of creating stricter policies, Mark, as well as myself, feel that the focus of law makers should be to increase the mandatory minimum sentence for criminals.

 

In the coming weeks, President Obama will be using the Sandy Hook Shooting as a platform for support of his gun control policies. Stay tuned to see where it takes us.

Don’t Believe Everything You Hear

40% of Guns are purchased without background checks? Well, apparently a good percentage of the President’s information is accessed without background checks as well.

 

During a recent rally to support stricter background checks, Obama used this statistic, one that pretty much broke all the rules of research.

 

This number was from 1997. That right there is just ridiculous…and that’s not the only thing.

It was a very vague poll from a significantly small population. NO! NO! NO!

 

Politicians should know by now that if they are going to throw around facts and statistics in order to prove a point, they better be damn sure that the numbers are accurate.

 

Speaking as an active internet-researcher, I know how difficult it can be to find information that is unbiased, up-to-date, and TRUE. While I feel somewhat hypocritical in my criticism of President Obama giving misleading information about background checks on guns, he and his research team need to be more careful, because all of America is listening.

 

I am sympathetic to the fact that all humans make this mistake. This is why I am so passionate in my concern to make this blog a place where people can find solid (and relevant) facts. Faulty information results in misguided opinions. If 40% of guns were actually purchased without background checks, then yes, stricter background checks should be at the top of the priority list in terms of gun regulation. But times have changed, these numbers have changed, therefore our outlook on gun control must change.

Use suspicion as an armor to protect yourself against the faulty and biased facts that the world throws at us every day. 

Not So Happy Anniversary

This past weekend marked the 1-year anniversary of one of the scariest weekends of my life. I have been contemplating using this topic as a blog post discussing the importance of self-protection, worrying that some people may not be able to connect my story to the theme of this blog. I’ll give it a shot, and even if you don’t understand the connection I’m trying to make, hopefully you will at least enjoy the story.

It was a Friday night in March (technically Saturday morning) when my friends and I attended a party at a fellow classmate’s house, located close to our freshmen dorms.  Also in attendance were some extremely drunk strangers, with a clear interest in finding and bringing home the drunkest girls at the party. Feeling extremely creeped out, my 4 friends and I started our short journey home at about 2:30 AM.

 

Fast forward to about 5 AM. I am sitting in a hospital bed. The doctor is cleaning my wounds so that he can administer the stiches. My orange dress was stained with blood. My friend, Carrie, is sitting with me on the hospital bed, holding my hand, because she knows I am terrified of needles.

 

Long story short, one of the creepers at the party started following us home once we left. He was yelling obscene things at us, personally degrading, offending, and threatening each member of my group. We tried to ignore him, but one certain comment about my friend’s weight completely set me off. Against my better judgment and in an attempt to defend her honor, I retaliated in a rather unladylike manner. In the midst of the yelling and pushing, the man suddenly darted down the street. As the adrenaline running through my body faded away, I noticed a stinging pain and a stream of blood flowing from my leg and my arm. I didn’t notice him pull out a weapon of any sort, but it turns out that I had something reminiscent of a stab wound on my arm, and a slice on my leg.

 

Although this is a scary thing to happen to anyone, I was lucky that the circumstances weren’t life threatening. But what if they had been? What if I truly believed that my life was in danger? What if I was alone? What if I noticed he was carrying a weapon? If this man had the intention of severely injuring me, or killing me, I would have been defenseless. This can happen anywhere, not just on a college campus.  Some women may not be as lucky as I was. The right to carry self-protection should not be banned for this reason. If a person cant physically defend his/herself, they should be able to have something that will protect them and give them a sense of security. 

No More “TJ Lanes”

“Authorities believe the weapon may have been taken from a family member, perhaps Lane’s grandfather.” Time Magazine

TJ Lane wore a shirt that said “KILLER” on it to his hearing today.

I’m sure many of you have heard about the school shooting in Ohio a last Feburary. TJ Lane killed 3 students at Chardon High School when he opened fire in the cafeteria. Lane proved to be a very dark, violent-obsessed, young individual. Although I have found no record of clinically diagnosed mental disorder, Lane is a sick young boy, the exact person who should never get their hands on such deadly weapons.

Today, TJ Lane was sentenced to 3 separate life terms in prison with no parole. He laughed, cursed, and offered crude hand gestures while receiving his sentence and listening to the testimonies of the victim’s family members. 3 innocent lives have been lost, and countless lives have been affected.

Now since I am a huge proponent of the proper storage of firearms, I tried to see things through the perspective of Lane’s grandfather, the alleged owner of the gun. If in fact the weapon belonged to the Grandfather, what do you think is going through his head right now? If it were me, I would feel responsible and sick to my stomach from guilt… that if I could’ve restricted the access to my weapon, he would not have gotten a hold of it, and 3 young boys would still be here today.

This is an example of how gun owners need to take responsibility. It is absolutely urgent. By protecting their weapons so that criminals and mentally unstable subjects, such as TJ Lane, cannot access them, will indirectly save so many lives. We can’t afford any more heart wrenching stories that give our country a reason to doubt our right to bear arms.

An Interesting Perspective

I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal about gun control, and I have to say it was one of the most interesting pieces of writing I’ve encountered while researching this topic.

The Article is titled “Why Our Gun Debate Is Off Target” by Dan Baum, who interestingly enough is a pro-gun liberal. He really gave me a fresh insight on “gun culture” and the current problems that it faces. Instead of criticizing the government (like everyone else, including myself, has done) he spins it around and places responsibility on gun owners. Baum presents some solid statistics on the relationship between legal and illegal gun owners; that most of the time, non-registered gun owners steal from those who are licensed to carry.

I absolutely love his outlook on how to solve the gun problem in America. He claims that instead of writing off Gun Control as a congressional matter, Americans (specifically gun owners) need to make a culture out of gun safety.

“What could the NRA and the community of responsible gun owners do to reduce gun deaths without government intervention? They could make unsafe gun behavior socially unacceptable, just as it has become unthinkable, among most Americans, to smoke inside another person’s house or to make lascivious comments about underage girls.”

This is a great approach if you ask me. Citizens taking action and responsibility for such matters, and not leaving it up to the government, is a freedom that America takes for granted sometimes. We have the power to protect our right to own guns and that is something worth fighting for. 

Welcome to my Page!

This page was created in honor of the 2^nd Amendment:

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

Seeing as gun control is one of today’s hottest public issues, it is important to stay informed. There has been much dispute in the government regarding gun regulation policies. Just like every other politically based issue, accurate information can be hard to come by. That is one purpose for this blog; to educate you, the reader, on what is happening in the White House in terms of new/reformed policies.

Many American’s feel threatened by the negative perception of today’s “gun culture,” worrying that they may lose their right to self protection. Although it’s pretty much impossible for Congress to pass an Act that completely bans the sale of firearms, many people (including non-gun owners) feel that the integrity of their citizenship is at risk.

The Constitution is the foundation of this country. It is the tangible outcome of the struggles that our Founding Father’s endured, so that one day, future American’s could live free. Any policies that dishonor the freedoms described in the Bill of Rights are simply unacceptable.

In terms of President Obama’s reform efforts, they will not solve the problem of illegal gun owners. Americans must be proactive in this public issue. We need to voice our opinions on what needs to be done to keep this country safe without sacrificing our freedom. In order to do this, we must educate ourselves with the FACTS. Hopefully, this blog will serve that purpose.