At 10:56 06-03-01 +0100, Jeroen wrote:
>At 00:52 6-3-01 -0600, Ronn Blankenship wrote:
>
>>As the afternoon's events in California have shown, we haven't even
>>invented the "disgruntled loner schoolboy" detector.
>
>Two things shot (no pun intended) through my mind when I saw it on the
>news, more precisely when I saw Bush offering his condolences to the
>families of the victims.
>
>The first thing was "jeez, what a hypocrit -- he acts like he's grieving,
>but at the same time he's good friends with the NRA, and this will not
>convince him to come up with more strict gun laws".
>
>The second thing that came to mind was Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the wind":
>
> Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
> Before he can hear people cry?
> Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
> That too many people have died?
>
>Yes, mr. Bush, how many more innocent lives must be lost before the you
>realize all these deaths are not mere statistics, but real tragedies that
>could have been avoided... :(
I do not know the details of either President Bush's childhood or yours,
but I and many of my friends were raised in homes where loaded firearms
were kept for hunting and/or self-protection, and none of us were ever
involved in either accidental shootings or events such as what happened
yesterday. When he first started keeping a loaded revolver in the house,
my father took me when he taught my mother to use it, and also taught me to
use it. (I cannot remember the exact time that occurred, I do know it was
before I turned 10.) A lot can be done to prevent accidents (e.g., a child
finding a gun in a drawer and shooting himself or another child) by
demystifying guns and teaching children what they are for and to respect
them. As far as preventing schoolyard violence of any sort, parents need
to love (not indulge) and discipline (not abuse) their children and teach
them respect for others. (I am not going to specifically mention religion
as a part of the upbringing, although I think it is a part of bringing up
children to love and respect others, as I realize that not everyone agrees
it is a necessary part.)
FWIW, I am not and never have been a member of the NRA or any similar
group, and neither have any of my family members been, AFAIK. I do have
close friends who are NRA members, and I also have both friends and family
members who do not wish to have anything to do with firearms of any sort.
Now that you know some of my feelings on the subject and what I base them
on, how do you (anyone) suggest that such tragedies as yesterday's school
shooting in California, and all the ones that have come before, could have
been avoided?
-- Ronn! :)
