The personal right to self-defense is not so broad as
to include the intrusion into the safety and well-being of others
in order to exercise that right (HCN,
4/28/08). Guns are not only in the homes of the
households they are supposed to protect, they are violating our
communities. They are in fast-food restaurants, on school campuses,
in homes and in cars.
It is not gun control that is
needed; it is control over the fools that insist on owning them,
selfishly blind and unfeeling to the destruction they are bringing
into society. I was 12 when my father taught me to shoot. But no
more guns for me. It is time to take a stand for the children and
innocent people who are being mowed down in domestic shootings,
drive-bys and accidental injuries every single day. No law, no
amendment should take precedent over human life.
The
rallying cry of “our Second Amendment rights” translates to “I
don’t care how many die – my rights, my home, my needs are more
important.” No homeowner’s guns on 9/11 could have prevented those
airplanes from taking lives. Read a newspaper and you can see that
guns are not saving us, they are causing thousands of deaths a
year. The statistics from the Department of Justice don’t lie. We
can all read and watch the news where the death toll from guns
surpasses the deaths in Iraq.
A private industry has
intruded into our freedom in a way no outside terrorist group has
yet to do. This is a for-profit business that is making money off
every bullet. They are not fighting for our right to bear arms,
they are fighting for their bottom line. The Second Amendment is
their advertising jingle and nothing more. Our government, even our
media, say nothing, both afraid, even corrupt in their silence.
Where is the responsible gun owner so brave and quick to
hold that gun, but refusing to do something, anything, to keep guns
out of the wrong hands? So-called responsible gun owners are the
biggest cowards, hiding behind guns and not having the balls to do
something about what has become America’s biggest threat. They are
America’s shame.
Michelle Harrison Fort Lauderdale,
Florida
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline ‘Shooting ourselves in the head’.
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