29 Comments
Mar 31, 2023·edited Mar 31, 2023

Before responding to the substance of this post, one correction: There is no political party of any significance in this country that "supports defunding the police." Unlike the Republicans who simply supported Donald Trump in lieu of a party platform, the Democrats adopted one and defund the police ain't in there. Moreover, to the best of my knowledge, out of the many cities that are controlled by Democrats, I don't know of any that have actually decreased police funding. There is definitely merit to the charge that Democrats tend not to strenuously enforce gun laws in minority communities. As for defunding the police, however, there is none. The few pinheads who once called for defunding the police are just that: a few pinheads.

That said, my overall reaction to this post, and the featured video, is that they are a deflection. Yes, the number of kids killed in school shootings is negligible in comparison to the those who are the victims of street violence. And yes, due to the disproportionate impact on young men of color, existing gun laws tend to be inadequately enforced in predominantly minority, urban communities. However, mass shootings are on the increase and other than "thoughts and prayers," Republicans have no answer. So they deflect.

Being black and in my 60's, I can walk the streets in any part of Chicago with little fear of becoming a victim of gun violence, which is mostly related to gang activity that is the province of much younger men. I might go to a concert, though. Or a movie theatre. Or a 4th of July parade. And of course, my grandchildren have to go to school. Not only have mass shootings occurred in all of these places, the phenomenon seems to be on the increase. This is not to say that I am unconcerned with the routine levels of gun violence in many urban communities. However, that concern is not enough to make me content with "thoughts and prayers" being our only response to mass shootings.

Irrespective of whether the AR-15 was originally a "military" weapon, it still seems to me that mere civilians have no need for the same weaponry used by the military. The M-16 that I carried as a soldier being virtually identical to the AR-15, that is enough for me to conclude that it, and anything featuring similar levels of lethality, needs to be banned. The assault weapons ban that was once in place focused on certain features thought common to "assault weapons," which features were easily modified in order to get around the ban. In my view, it is a weapon's level of lethality that matters, and that has more to due with muzzle velocity and caliber size, among other things. Regardless of any manufacturer's original designation of a weapon as being for civilian or military use, I see no need for civilians to possess weaponry as lethal as that of a soldier.

I post this in the hope of drawing responses that might further educate me on this issue. For anyone who might care to do so, I am also intensely curious as to how avowed Christians manage to reconcile "turn the other cheek" with being armed to the teeth.

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Mic drop

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So true!

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Thanks for this.

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More and more people need to understand this...coupled with your message yesterday.

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It took courage to publish this column, Erick, in today's shoot-the-bearer-of-truth media climate. Thank you.

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well said, but the left does not want facts that do not align with their agenda.

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'All in the family' Gloria, Archie's collage age daughter is wining about gun deaths. Archy comments to her" Little girl! would you rather they was pushed out of windows?" The point is those people are dead, Murdered by another human being. Anger is running rampant in our country. Love your neighbor as your self.

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Can't find a link to the Leland Vittert monologue from last night. There's nothing on the NewsNation website.

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Mar 30, 2023·edited Mar 30, 2023

Open to correction, but I read were about 3% of violent deaths in the US are by ALL rifles and shotguns.

My state (Washington - new motto, "The California Wannabee State") declared virtually ALL semi-automatic rifles as "assault rifles". Like calling a rowboat the battleship Missouri because they both float!

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My answer to any and all people "outraged" over "gun violence" is this: over 100,000 fentanyl deaths in the US last year. Let's secure our border since you're so hot on the outrage over "our children." Oh, and you don't get to give me ginned up "outrage" over "our children" and at the same time cosign on protests outside SCOTUS justices homes over Roe v Wade. You get zero moral high ground OR my time with those two stances. I reject your attempt to advance your unconstitutional grab at my clearly defined rights. Hope I wasn't unclear.

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It’s the old white woke (WW) cancer that permeates American society in all its evil. The WWs put a big BLM yard sign in their front yard to show they care, but damn well won’t give a crap about the young black lives taken on the city streets - seemingly weekly in metro Atlanta. It’s been that way for years, but has gotten particularly bad since George Floyd and “the summer of love” of 2020. Same people will claim to love children, but believe a woman has every right to terminate a full-term baby. It’s odd, but frankly downright evil.

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I never cared for the term "assault weapon". Aren't all weapons just that because of the nature of their function?

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Well said. Enough said.

The left often sites places like Australia and Japan as examples since they have gun bans.

But looking at the numbers which are fudged anyway, their crime rates are double the US. Murders didn’t go down, robberies didn’t go down and the country didn’t turn into some utopia violence free zone.

Quite the opposite.

The places in the us with the loosest gun restrictions have the lowest crime rates. How does that happen?

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The ONE WORLD GOV. that is taking control of this nation KNOWS that they will not be able to do it if people still have arms like the AR-15 or others. They know they can NOT have the control like they did with the C-19. If they start another thing like that, they know people with arms will use them in a civil war. Getting all of the arms before they make the final move is in progress.

BUT, the ONE WORLD GOV. is needed before the END TIMES, and we are getting closer every day so please get out your Bibles and study about what we need to know for these times and get ready.

Blessings to all

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Excellent

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