In just the past 30 hours, more bloodshed:
Five children found murdered
13 people murdered in Binghampton
Three police officers shot down in Pittsburgh
These horrific crimes have one obvious link:
Guns.
There may be other links that pushed these people over the brink of sanity to murder these innocent people. Like depression, mental instability, anger, desperation, fear.
But those experiences rarely lead to such destruction.
It's true, these are American incidents, where the debate on gun control incites anger and defiance from those who believe owning a gun is a God-given right. It's a debate that has yet to be given a fair fight, because the ones with the guns always seem to be able to intimidate the majority. But let that debate begin again.
Another fact that will be papered over is that none of these killers were criminals until they exploded. Which kind of hits at the usual defence of the gun-fans: it's the criminals and not everyday gun owners who should be the focus. Unfortunately, in the cases above, not until the men pulled the trigger and began their rampage were they actually criminals; it was too late.
Does that mean gun control, or the gun registry as is currently under attack here by the CONservative government, could have prevented them? No one can say that. Once these people had the means and methods to act, very little could have stopped it. But the gun registry and gun control is meant to ensure that both access to firearms and the knowledge of who has firearms, can assist in providing tools and checks to prevent some of them.
It isn't about taking guns away from people. It's about responsibility, about maintaining our societal order, about providing safe communities, and giving our police services the means to serve and protect.
I'm sending my prayers to those who have been scarred by these terrible acts, and hope that something good can come from it all. I am also sending a message to my MP and senator, who will be asked by Stephen Harper to relax the responsibilities of owning a firearm and to cancel the Gun Registry. I will be imploring them to support the Gun Registry and to support the will of the Police Chiefs.
Find your senator here.
Find your MP here.
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2 comments:
In all of these killings every single one of the killers had just lost their jobs. We shall most likely be seeing a lot more of this in the near future. It's horrendous & so unnecessary & yet when people are "pushed over the edge" this is what happens.
I agree with you that we must keep the Gun Registry as it's crucial for the police to have this information. Good post!
Apparently, the guy that killed the cops is a member of the white supremisists and did this because he thought Obama would take away guns.
Nuts or what.
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