Stopping Gun Violence

Another mass shooting in Oregon this week killing 10 people and injuring several more has again caused shock and a call for stricter gun laws. But soon we will resume our routines and numb ourselves to the reality that criminals, mentally ill people and militants can access guns without background checks or registration in most states. The Oregon tragedy brings the total mass shootings (killing four or more) by gunfire in the U.S. this year so far to 294, and we've had only 274 days.The National Rifle Association (NRA), which donates large sums to members of Congress and scares gun owners into believing the government wants to take their guns away, will again thwart any attempt to have stricter gun controls. In Kansas, no state permit is required to purchase a rifle, shotgun, or handgun. This year, Gov. Brownback signed a bill expanding the state's permitless open-carry laws to include concealed carry.
How many deaths will it take to stop this proliferation of guns? I have read that we have more guns than people in the U.S., yet they have not made us safer. We have excessively more gun violence than most other developed countries. If enough people had the will and would demand stricter gun control laws, we could save many innocent lives. About 20 years ago there was a massacre in Australia and their government passed a bold series of laws that banned the possession of a range of deadly weapons. In 12 days they accomplished what gun control supporters in the U.S. have failed at for decades.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Limping to God I come to you, God, weather-beaten and limping, asking for forgiveness for all the times I have failed to be faithful and attentive to all those around me, especially the elderly who have run the race, the poor, the lonely and abandoned, who need my care and concern.     Is there any hope for these old bones? What will it take to change my limp into a surge of energy and a ready step? Teach me to become more caring, more responsive, more aware. Give me eyes to see and the will to act on my good intentions.   Water my dried up spirit and shriveled body, expand my shrunken heart. Give me eyes to see what you are leading me to do even as my bones creak and my legs become unsteady. Make me remember that I am here to serve, to listen, to be ready to be your hands and feet today.   Barbara Mayer, OSB    
Read more
Image
    “Wonderfully Made” When I took a college English course, our first assignment was to write an essay about whether we would rather lose our sight or lose our legs. It was a thought-provoking choice. If we became blind, we would miss seeing our loved ones and all the beauty of our world. If we could not walk, we would be hindered from traveling and moving around without help. I chose to keep my eyesight since I love to read and write and enjoy the variety and beauty that surrounds us.   Of course, I’m glad I didn’t have to make that choice in real life, but it was a thought-provoking assignment. It made me think about how much we take our bodies for granted. I began to think about all the organs, veins, arteries, canals, nerves, and bones we have in our bodies and how they all work together to keep us alive and healthy. It is not until we lose one of them that we realize how magnificent we are, created in the “image and likeness of God.” God loves each and every one of us as if
Read more
Image
  Overcoming Discouragement Sometimes discouragement and failure take over our lives, and we cannot seem to crawl out of our hole. Even if in reality they are not a true picture, we can be blinded by the seeming darkness.  It often takes another person to uncover what is hidden from us and to see through the cloudy picture.  I am reminded of a story about Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. He tells of how he felt his dream of starting a group for people with drinking problems was not going anywhere. Then unexpectedly Father Dowling, a disheveled priest, came to his door in the middle of a snowstorm. Bill’s caretaker told him that a “damn bum” was at the door. Bill was tired but agreed to see him and in doing so had his “second conversion experience.” Bil and Father Dowling talked way into the night, and Bill told of his “high hopes and plans, and spoke about his anger, despair and mounting frustrations.”  It turned out that the elderly priest had had similar feel
Read more