We Are Better Than This
As a mom and concerned citizen, I have been looking for a way to discuss the Aurora tragedy intelligently and without snark. Dan Gross of The Center to Prevent Gun Violence seems to want the same. Thanks to my friend Griffin Dunne for introducing me to his cause. Now, I introduce you:
Dear Family and Friends,
I want to bring attention to petition that hits the right tone in getting our Presidential candidates to finally address the issue of gun violence. This crisis had cost countless lives well before the never ending rampage shootings these past decades and the only bipartisanship both men seem to share is their fear to speak out lest they alienate voters and the gun lobby. If our representatives can tackle health issues like tobacco, seat belts and obesity, why should a positive discourse regarding gun violence prevention be taboo?
This petition was drafted by Dan Gross, who was recently made head of The Brady Campaign/Center to Prevent Gun Violence. He’s a dynamic and passionate spokesperson who only wants to diffuse this divisive issue with common sense solutions.
A link to his appearance on The Colbert Report post Aurora is below:
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Here is the link to the petition “We Are Better Than This”: WeAreBetterThanThis.org
Feel free to forward or Twitter this link as well as visit the site on Facebook. With both conventions fast approaching we have an opportunity to make gun safety a national dialogue that could bring the country together and let our leaders know we are better than this.
Best,
Griffin
Watch my video for Go Red for Women
How do you think we can prevent gun violence?
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12 comments
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What has happened in all of the mass murders is nothing new. The fact that we now have 24.7.365.4 "news" coverage is a two-sided coin. On the face of it, we feel better informed, on the reverse side is that the "media" gets hold of a story and beats it to death. I have turned my TV off permanently as I get no real news and what little real news there is, is constantly drilled into us over and over and over again.
Yes, people are killed by guns every day. How about the ones who get killed by being knifed, strangled, beaten to death...bullets breaking the sound barrier just make the news because the media hates guns. Yes, we ARE BETTER THAN THIS but our very own Supreme Court took away the protections we all had when they declared that the mentally ill cannot be forceably maintained in a hospital for an indefinite amount of time.
In Aurora, the individual has paranoid schizophrenia. His previous activities should have had him institutionalization, but SCOTUS said no, until a person like him COMMITS A CRIME, he must be free to do whatever he wants to do.
The white "supremist" who just killed some of the kindest, harmless people on our planet, the Sikhs in their own temple of love was murdered by someone who thought that white skin somehow or another made him the judge of who should be allowed to be in this country. Like all of that type of individual, he had a mental disease of the worst kind.
I am one of the targeted groups for animals like them. For some insane reason or another they think that Jews are not white. That is true in some instances because Judaism is an inclusive faith and we have every shade of skin in the world, but me? I'm as "white" as they come. I am a veteran of the U.S. Military although as a woman I was not subject to the draft back in the '50 through the '70s. But I wanted to serve my country, what is wrong with that?
Okay, let's get to the nitty gritty of what I have to really say. The United States will NEVER control weapons. SCOTUS has spoken as clearly and distinctly as possible, so anyone trying to control firearms are wasting everyone's time. UNFORTUNATELY it ain't gonna happen, people.
ANY government that is strong enough to take your weapons is strong enough to enslave you. That has been proven time and time again throughout the ages.
The only reason I carry a revolver with silicon "dum-dum" rounds is to be certain that if, heaven forbid, I am forced to protect myself, the bullet will stay in the person who is shot and not go through an possibly injure or kill another human being.
There is a solid REASON I carry a concealed (legally) weapon: I am over 70 years YOUNG. I drive great distances. In the event that my vehicle malfunctions, I am seen as a weak target and could be put in a precarious position. Why don't I fly? TSA. It is faster for me to drive to some of my locations than it is to fly considering the time wasted getting to an airport two hours early and then to be told to place my 250 pound power chair on the Xray unit (even though it is obvious that it would not fit) and by the time the aircraft industry gets around to finally taking off, I've already arrived at my location!
Also, I have to have a vehicle capable of lifting my unit and carrying it all over the place. Besides, I love seeing our magnificent country on the ground.
People have a RIGHT to oppose gun ownership. I'd not disagree with George above. However the painful fact is this, when civilians do not have guns then only the military and the criminal class will have them.
We now have over 300 million people in this wonderful country we have, it is tragic that ANYONE is killed, however divide 300,000,000 by 47 and the figure will have more zeros in it than you want to count. How many people will die today in automobile accidents? How many will be killed by drunk drivers. Where is the outrage over the availability of automobiles? Where is the outrage over the availability of alcohol and/or other dangerous products?
You may say that only guns can murder a mass of people; I will counter that you are ignorant of the multiple vehicles that pile up killing dozens of people because the drivers were too stupid to pull over when they saw impenetrable fog. Let's outlaw CARS!
Guns kill, cars kill, knives kill...HANDS can kill...should we outlaw hands and have all of our hands amputated?
My blog is at bevmar.wordpress.com (if that is allowed on this site otherwise, administrator, please feel free to delete that, I'll have no ill feelings.)
I will close with this: I love ALL people unless they prove that they are unworthy, but I will never pre-judge anyone. Sorry for the length of this post but I'm a writer and, well, writers write. -
I will never forget one Friday morning when I was taking a class in advanced probability theory at Stanford University. It began at 11 AM. About 11:10, one of my classmates, a cute redhead, ran into class crying her eyes out, shouting, "The President's been shot! The President's been shot!"
Our professor, Immanuel Parzen, suggested she calm down and take a seat. He reminded us that this was the weekend of the Stanford/Cal football game, a weekend when rumors always ran wild. Instead, she ran out of the class.
When the class ended at 12:20, I walked over to the Student Union and went upstairs to the Student Lounge. It was crowded. Everyone was watching the TV. After awhile, Walter Cronkite, tears in his eyes, said that the Dallas hospital had just announced that President John F. Kennedy had died....
No one could believe it. No one. President Kennedy had inspired so many of us. Many of my classmates and I began crying. How could this have happened in America?
We soon learned that the man who shot and killed him used a high-powered rifle.
Five years later, his younger brother, Robert Kennedy, was shot and killed by a man with a handgun at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Handguns have been used to kill many, many people.
Two brothers, John and Robert Kennedy, killed by madmen with guns.
I have opposed guns all of my life. Other men in my family disagree with me. For decades they have hunted and killed deer every hunting season. They know I have always been repulsed by this. I always will be.... -
Rich remember, there have been cases where people were killed with a gun that was turned into police thru some program. You people from Australia I have something for you.
Through the National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP), the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) monitors trends and patterns in homicide across Australian jurisdictions. The NHMP data are the most comprehensive collection on homicide in Australia, providing details of victims, offenders and the circumstances of the incident. This is only made possible through the strong support and commitment to the Program provided by all state and territory homicide squads.
This report presents findings of the nineteenth year of homicide data collection (2007–08) and provides an overview of key characteristics. During 2007–08, there were 260 incidents of homicide resulting in 273 victims and committed by 308 offenders. Since 2001–02, there has been a decrease in the incidence of homicide.
The rate of homicide in 2007–08 remained stable at 1.2 incidents per 100,000 of the population—the same as was recorded in 2006–07. Similarly, the homicide victimisation rate was equivalent to the previous year at 1.3 victims per 100,000 Australians, which remains the lowest recorded since the inception of the NHMP.
With regard to the gender of victims, there were some notable findings. Female victimisation increased from 0.8 per 100,000 females in 2006–07 (n=81) to 1.0 per 100,000 females (n=112) in 2007–08. The proportion of female victims by type of homicide stayed relatively consistent with the previous year. The most prominent change was a decrease in the proportion of females killed in an acquaintance-type homicide in 2007–08 (11%) compared with 2006–07 (16%).
In contrast, there was an overall decrease in male victimisation from 1.8 per 100,000 males in 2006–07 (n=185) down to 1.5 per 100,000 males in 2007–08 (n=161). Further, while there was an increase in the proportion of both acquaintance-type homicides from 2006–07 (36%) to 2007–08 (42%), and family-type homicides from 2006–07 (15%) to 2007–08 (24%), male victimisations in stranger-type homicides decreased to 16 percent in 2007–08 (from 25% in 2006–07).
In general, most homicide incidents in 2007–08 were domestic homicides involving one or more victims who shared a family or domestic relationship with the offender. Intimate partner homicides comprised the largest proportion of domestic homicides (60%).
The proportion of homicide incidents in 2007–08 involving a firearm increased modestly to 12 percent (n=30), an increase from nine percent (n=24) in 2007–08. Despite this increase, the involvement of firearms in homicide incidents remains at an historical low. The majority of firearms used in 2007–08 were identified as being either unregistered and/or unlicensed.
In case you want to now where this is taken from, it's from Australian Institute of Criminology.
http://aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/mr/1-20/13.aspx
So my question to you is this, reguardless of where you live. Which of these incidents would you find more comfort in? You hear a window being broken in your house, it's night time and you are there by yourself. Would you find more comfort in: (1) Hiding under your bed, call the police and hope they get to you before whoever broke into your house does. (2) Hide under your bed, call the police and pull the gun out of your bedside table.
If you choose number one, you deserve whatever happens to you. -
Respectfully, Michael Moran is incorrect in nearly all of his assumptions. A Gallup poll taken in October of 2011 found that nearly half (47%)of have a gun in their household or on their property. Thirty-four percent personally own a firearm. Forty-three percent of women report gun ownership in their household. Twenty-three percent personally own a firearm.
The "people are far more likely to be killed with their own weapons than to prevent burglary or other crime" argument is a fallacy. It selectively uses certain info without factoring in others. Most firearms used in crimes are NOT stolen from gun owners. This figure is close to 10 percent according to the ATF. Criminals get their guns in criminal ways such as straw purchases or the black market, etc.
As to a strong will and tone of voice stopping crime, this is incredibly naive. These are good to have but a firearm will give you far better protection than will and voice.
Mr. Moran's last paragragh gives one insight as to his views. He favors repeal of the 2nd Amendment. Do that and America as we know it will cease to exist. America has needed, does need and will continue need the 2nd Amendment in order to stay free. -
Sorry, Elizabeth, can't agree with your support of Dan Gross from the Brady Campaign/Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Brady's purpose has always been abolition of the 2nd Amendment and a ban of all guns. Whereas the tragedies in Aurora and Oak Creek give us great pause, gun control laws would not have prevented them. When guns are banned from lawful citizens, only criminals have guns. Countries that have banned guns have suffered from higher rates of crime. The Second Amendment is the most important of the amendments because it's the guarantor of all the others.
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Icthar, only about 25% of the adult American population owns a firearm of some type. Most of them are men. About half of all households have a firearm. People here are far more likely to be killed with their own weapons than they are to ever prevent a burglary or other crime with a firearm. Most firearms used in crimes here are stolen from legal gun owners.
Personally I live in a crime ridden neighborhood and find that a strong will and tone of voice will stop any crime violent or not. Firearms simply give frightened people a false sense of security.
Here the second amendment of the Constitution gives people the right to keep and bare arms. We probably need to repeal that if we want to be safe in a modern society. It has outlived its usefulness. -
Great cause.
Must say i am one of those completely opposed but i am from Australia were we have a no tolerance policy and the only ones with gun licences are police (but most have tazers) and farmers/sporting people who have to go under ridiculous amounts of checks and inspections. You don't need one to feel protected (although we do have one for our cows) …a good scary guard dog is more than enough… -
I honestly don't see why anyone would want to own a gun. Maybe it's a cultural thing? I'm Australian, and have never been to the USA, and don't understand why everyone has one. I've never even met anyone who owns a gun. This isn't a criticism,but wouldn't life be so much better without them?
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While I understand the emotional need of many to try and curb violence through extreme restrictions up to and including banning all firearms except for military and police I would only ask that al involved look at the reality. Have extreme restrictions ever worked at any time in history anywhere in the world? Good luck with your endeavor in your area but I hope you do not take it everywhere. I would rather be armed and protected than relying on the USG or the police who could doa very nice job figuring out who killed me! -
And, the same applies to the other side -- the right to own a gun doesn't mean carte blanche. The Supreme Court itself listed many regulations that are allowed. Both sides here need to find a middle path. Many on both sides are willing. Good luck. -
I do agree with the US Supreme Court that there is a right to own a gun but that various regulations are allowed. The President on down, even though some think such people are "anti-gun zealots" agrees. But, I'm not sure what exactly can be done to deal with such tragedies. I'm open to reasoned discourse and acceptance (that some simply don't like) that just banning guns or some such step is just not going to happen. Even those who simply hate guns need to understand that and try to find some middle ground.
On that level, I appreciate Elizabeth Banks' interest in and promotion of this cause.
