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It is about children

953 views 12 replies 12 participants last post by  reinhold 
#1 ·
Roanoke Times' (Roanoke Virginia) Op Ed from a 14YO who's been brainwashed. :aargh4:

Well, the RT has found their level of wisdom.

Find safety in a healthy society - Roanoke.com

Find safety in a healthy society

Katherine Hochella

Hochella is a student at Blacksburg Middle School.


I am a 14-year-old girl living in Blacksburg. It seems like yesterday, but the
Virginia Tech massacre was three years ago. It often still comes back in my
mind.

I was in fifth grade when it happened. It was a normal day, but our teacher
said that she was going to lock our doors because of high winds. I thought
that this was strange because we have had windy days before and did not lock
the doors.

At the end of the school day, our teacher told us that when we got home, our
parents would tell us something that happened during the day and that was why
the doors were locked.

When I got home, my parents told me there had been a massacre at Virginia Tech
that day. I was devastated by the news.

I was even more frightened when I found out that my parents were both only 100
yards from the tragedy. I cannot imagine how awful it would be to lose my
parents. This was the deadliest peacetime shooting incident by one person in
United States history.

In a single year in the United States, more than 8,000 people are murdered by
handguns. About 3,000 are children and teens. If you look at the murder rate
with guns per 100,000 people, Mexico is not much worse than our country. And
Mexico has a huge drug war going on.

Japan, on the other hand, has essentially no murders by guns, and in 2002, not
one child was killed by a gun.

The truth is that people both for and against gun control laws know that we
have an incredibly serious problem. They just have very different opinions on
what to do about it.

Frankly, none of the solutions I hear from either side make much sense to me.

For example, some say that if more and more people started to carry guns to
protect themselves, we'd all be safer. But I think that we would have even
more gun tragedies. Pretty soon, I'd start seeing guns carried around
everywhere by everybody, and that would be really scary, sort of like an old
Wild West movie.

Another example is that we should close the loopholes for selling guns at gun
shows and for background checks for mental health. But closing these loopholes
would not keep bad or crazy people from getting guns.

We are missing two things. First, how can we make a difference if both sides
do not work together? Second, maybe it is not the guns after all, but the
people and the society in which they live.

Maybe our society has failed us. Many people today simply have not been taught
right from wrong. And of the 300 million people in the United States, about 55
million are living in poverty, according to StateHealthFacts.org. That's about
one in six people.

Both of these things and many others make people angry and desperate. And the
violence that results too often ends in gun tragedies. This happened at Tech,
and I almost lost my parents.

We have the right to bear arms, but I think a much more important right is to
live a long life without fear from people who carry and use guns to harm
others. This more important right can come true only with a healthier society
and with common-sense laws.

That's where politicians, working together, should put their energy. This is
not about Democrats or Republicans, and it is not about liberals or
conservatives. It is about children like me.
 
#2 · (Edited)
*cough,cough* strawman letter actually written by an adult *cough, cough*

I'm sorry, but that stupid repeated line about it being like the old west is really starting to wear on my nerves. And if I hear "It's for the children" again I'm going to actually scream...

But there is one thing that gives me hope. In her letter, she does not actively blame guns, as she does state :
"Second, maybe it is not the guns after all, but the people and the society in which they live."
That at least tells me that she's of the right mindset on some of this issue. That guns are tools, and are neither good nor evil. It's the person wielding them who is good or evil.

Why is it that when drunk drivers run over kids, the person behind the wheel is the one responsible? No one screams from the rooftops that we should limit peoples access to Chrysler/Ford/Chevrolet vehicles, and no one goes off on a tangent about micro-stamping bottles of Crown Royal, Jose Cuervo, or Budweiser? (To help us track down the hit-and-run drunk drivers, of course.) That not senator attempts to introduce legislation to close the "Classifieds/Craigslist/Ebay loophole" to keep cars out of unlicensed drivers hands? To stop the importation of European or Asian vehicles so "there will be less vehicles on the roadways that will hit our kids."? :aargh4:

But yet, let there be a tragedy involving a firearm, and well, you know the rest...
 
#4 ·
I can't picture a 14 year old writing that letter. I am not saying that a 14 year old is not smart enough to write it, it just seems to MSM.
 
#6 ·
The problem, is that people are teaching kids to look at method and not the cause, corrolation and not causation.
Yes, people are killed all the time with guns.
Does the presence of guns cause this?
Would these people not be killed even if somehow we could uninvent the gun? The answer to both is no.
Just look at China where kids are litterally being butchered, in shools, with kitchen knives.

Violent people will always find ways to carry out violence.

"This was the deadliest peacetime shooting incident by one person in
United States history."

Not to minimize the tragedy, but we lost five times that in the OK City bombing. No guns involved, just two people who wanted to kill allot of people and did so.

Let's not even include 9/11 or any other bombing incident.

This kind of pervasive, intentional ignorance is a problem in this and so many other areas in this country.
 
#7 ·
In a single year in the United States, more than 8,000 people are murdered by handguns. About 3,000 are children and teens. If you look at the murder rate with guns per 100,000 people, Mexico is not much worse than our country. And Mexico has a huge drug war going on.
He needs to update his information. The "drug war" is continental, at least with the gangs in question. I have read estimates suggesting as many as 1M members are in this country, alone. Out of ~300M people. That's essentially a million-strong standing army of thugs doing whatever drug money allows them to do. And this little twit thinks it's all justification to put down our ability to protect ourselves effectively. :aargh4:
 
#8 ·
My post on the RT Blog...

and BTW, please feel free to join in.

RoundTable: The Roanoke Times Editorial Board blogs on current events, issues - Roanoke.com Hochella: Fix society first

Well there is hope that she isn't too brainwashed, which is one thing that gives me hope. In her letter, she does not actively blame guns.

As she does state "Second, maybe it is not the guns after all, but the people and the society in which they live."

Very good observation, which is lost on many at the RT and who post here.

That at least tells me that she's of the right mindset on some of this issue. She understands that guns are just tools, and are neither good nor evil. It's the person wielding them who is good or evil. Good for her!

Why is it that when drunk drivers run over kids, the RT and most of society realizes that the person behind the wheel is responsible? No one screams from the rooftops that we should limit peoples access to Chrysler/Ford/Chevrolet vehicles, and no one goes off on a tangent about micro-stamping bottles of Crown Royal, Jose Cuervo, or Budweiser? (To help us track down the hit-and-run drunk drivers, of course.)

But yet, let there be a tragedy involving a firearm, and well, you know the rest...

She also says "sort of like an old Wild West movie" apparently realizing that movies aren't a true reflection on history, rather than buy into the stereotyping that the anti-gun hoplophobes like to spread.

And again she realizes what the RT editorial staff doesn't that "closing these [so-called] loopholes would not keep bad or crazy people from getting guns.

Good job Katherine. You understand what so many adults don't.

Comment by Daveh — May 25, 2010 @ 11:36 am
 
#9 ·
EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR OLD WEST!!!

EVERY FREAKING DAY OF MY LIFE!!

If anyone here has a time machine I will NOT come back.

PEACE OUT !
 
#10 ·
Here is my response...

The Price of Liberty: Practical Weapon Ownership and Safety

One of the things that most concerns people about owning or carrying a firearm is the issue of safety. This concern could not be more legitimate. Thousands of people are killed or injured each year through negligence or careless misuse of firearms and these incidents are consistently used among the leading justifications for increasing gun control measures.

Many individuals raise concerns about the inherent safety of owning firearms. These individuals often cite statistics showing that homes containing firearms are more likely to have a firearms related injury or death occur. These concerns are valid. In fact, it is a mathematical certainty that the existence of firearms increases the likelihood of gun related accidents and violence, just as the presence of automobiles increases the likelihood of traffic accidents and vehicular manslaughter. Were firearms to be suddenly eliminated from the face of the earth there is no question that gun accidents and gun related violence would necessarily cease as a result.

Why then, some ask, should we not eliminate privately owned firearms? If their presence involves a measure of risk, why don’t we just get rid of them? Answering these questions involves an analysis of firearms themselves. What are they? What can they do? What are they for?

Firearms quite simply are tools; nothing more and nothing less. When emotions and politics are removed from the discussion, a firearm is nothing more than a tool that allows the user to dispense high velocity projectiles with accuracy and precision. The actual firearm itself is a simple mechanical device with a few moving parts. The projectiles are usually packed in self-contained ammunition cartridges, commonly referred to as “rounds”. Rounds use a controlled exothermic chemical reaction to generate compressed gas, pushing the projectile forward.

The potential effects of these projectiles (bullets) are the reason for the controversy surrounding firearms. Small projectiles traveling at very high velocities have the potential to kill or injure people and animals and also to damage or destroy material objects and equipment. Different types of firearms have certain functional, mechanical differences and different types of ammunition have different sized bullets that travel at varying speeds. The basic capability of a firearm however is nothing more than the ability to launch a high velocity projectile.

As tools, firearms have many uses. The ability to accurately control the placement of a high velocity projectile has many different applications. Some people use firearms for sport; enjoying the challenges of honing their skills through achieving extraordinary levels of precision, accuracy and speed. Other people use firearms for hunting; using the projectiles to put meat on the table. Still others use them for self-defense and personal protection from both wildlife and from human threats; once again using the potential and actual capabilities of high-velocity projectiles in order to neutralize threats to life and limb.

High velocity projectiles are inherently dangerous objects. The capability to “create” them by using a firearm and ammunition therefore is an inherently dangerous capability. Firearms are not by themselves dangerous. They are just simple machines. They cannot function without a user. However, they do have the inherent capability to kill, injure or damage with projectiles, either accidentally or purposefully. The truth is that the controversy surrounding firearms has very little to do with firearms themselves. The arguments are not really about the tools. They are about capability; capability that equates to individuals controlling the power to kill.

Unfortunately, the fact is that some people will always have the power to kill whether they have special tools or not. Genetics and human physiology naturally give some people this capability in spades, while denying it to others. As tools, firearms level the playing field. In short, they are equalizers. As the saying goes, “God made men. Sam Colt made ‘em equal.” Every capability can be used for both good and evil and the capabilities of firearms are certainly no different. The capability of killing that firearms bring to individuals, regardless of the individual’s physical capability, allows anyone to effectively control their immediate environment and allows all people to function as equals in the event of conflict, regardless of their age or genetics.

Granting citizens these capabilities and the accompanying level of responsibility increases the level of vulnerability within society. This is a certainty. However, it also assures the continuation of individual liberty and personal responsibility, hence the existence of the Second Amendment. Under our form of government, citizens are assured the right to keep and bear arms, thereby assuring the continuation of individual liberty. Without individual capability and the associated individual equality, liberty cannot survive. This is the reason for the Second Amendment and the reason why the right to bear arms must be both preserved and exercised.

D.S. Sealed Mindset, Director of Training
www.sealedmindset.com
 
#11 ·
This kid doesn't sound THAT dumb. Still not in line with how I see it, and the kid makes the infuriatingly stupid "wild west" comment, and the preachy "it's for the children" line. But, not as terrible as a lot of the RT crap I see you Virginians posting here for us to ridicule...
 
#12 ·
the source or the problem

About fifty years ago, J. Edgar Hoover allegedly said: "The cure for crime is not the electric chair, but the high chair."

IMO the need for us all to be armed is due in no small part to our overly permissive society and its lockjaw hold on situational ethics. Those "values" may be reinforced at school, but they are taught at home - by words or by example.
 
#13 ·
+1 DS99"The Price of Liberty....."

It's sad, obviously that kid has never been to a shooting range on Saturday morning with her father, or attend an appleseed shoot, or plinked around in the woods, or been turkey hunting with her grandfather.

Adult written, adult inspired, or adult brainwashed. I'm not buying it. Almost had a tear in my eye..... until I saw James Carville's mug on the TV telepathically reminding me that this letter is no more than a weak attempt at progressive propaganda.

"It is about children like me." That's right kid, it's all about you.
 
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