Firearms: Rights, Choice or Personal Responsibility?
by Sara Toogood
There is so much media hype about gun control — "Million Mom March" — Rosie O'Donnell — activism, crime, violence — the root of all the evil seems to be the firearm.
When researching statistics to educate myself on my 'feelings' about gun control issues, I was quite surprised with the statistics. The pro-gun control statistics were so dramatically different from the anti-gun control statistics. I was in fear I might be incorrect, but with further digging, and thorough reading, I have realized the difference in the numbers.
The Pro gun statistics use ALL firearm fatalities inclusive of police, gang, suicide, homicide, hunting and home accidents. ( www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nv548-11pdf )
There are 2,337,256 deaths a year in the United States (1998). Heart disease still leads as the number one leading cause of death. Suicide is ranked 8th with Homicide following in 13th position. In 1998, there were 30,768 deaths from firearms. (The numbers used by the pro-gun control enthusiast.) 56.7 % suicide, 39.4 % Homicide. Surprisingly, only 866 deaths from accidental, in-the-home, use of firearms. When I say 'only' I do not mean to infer that this is acceptable, but in comparison to death by induced abortion (over 1 million annually) or suicide this is a very small number.
After reading these statistics, I am alarmed and amazed that these "Moms" are marching for the 866 deaths by handguns, when 'Our' children are 'taking their own lives, by an astronomical statistic.(18,000 a year.). What is wrong with this society that we are taking our own lives and those of the purely innocent at such a rapid rate? It is a sad thing to lose life/limbs of a young child (or that of another) that has been playing, unsupervised, with a handgun. Is it any less sad that we are losing 18,000 people/children a year from depression, sadness, and loneliness? What is the BIG picture here? How can we create positive change? Is the time, energy, and passion spent on 'marching', protesting and rubbing elbows with the 'politically correct' accomplishing the 'real' goal or what is the true objective? It seems that teaching, educating and loving those we are responsible for would be the more positive road to take.
Notice the 'unsupervised' in the previous paragraph above? This is my point of gun control. If persons would take 'personal responsibility' and teach, train, raise their children to know, respect and follow their parent's direction these 866 accidents could be prevented. G-d has given parents the responsibility of rearing their children (Proverbs 22:6) in the direction in which they should go. Parents, let's take responsibility instead of 'blaming' or expecting the 'government' to solve the problem.
Just a little sideline here, I happen to know three sisters (2 of which are moms) that went & walked in the Million Mom March. I also, know of a story about the eldest child of these ladies, who wrote a school paper about anti drugs. She got an "A" and it was so well written it won an award. The sad part of this story, when asked, of the daughter, if she believed what she wrote? "Heck, no! I wrote what my teacher wanted to hear so I could get an "A". An even sadder story is reported in an article by Vin Suprynowicz: Is this sad to anyone else or just me?
How can we get or encourage parents to take Personal Responsibility for their children's education? Educate the Parents. Parents read the statistics, thoroughly, look at the big picture and act. 'Million Moms', how about taking an hour to spend TIME, educating, & loving your child — be it in the use of — or avoiding the misuse of a gun — or enroll them in a local gun safety class. ( www.nra.org ). I am not encouraging gun use by youngsters but EDUCATION. Freedom comes from education not ignorance.
Rosie O'Donnell had Tom Selleck on her show and she berated and attacked him for his stance on gun ownership. I wrote her a letter and told her that she had an incredible window of opportunity to educate the nation in gun use/safety and I asked her to give the NRA an opportunity to express their opinion and properly educate, as they are the leader in gun safety education. But she CHOSE to keep the fear, hysteria and ignorance alive — to voice only ONE side. In response to my letter to Ms. O'Donnell, I got a generically, mass-produced, signed picture of Rosie O'Donnell. I felt like she (her organization) was telling me…. "talk to the hand", unfortunately, a trait common among the liberal regime. They preach fear and perpetuate ignorance. In contrast, I wrote to Charlton Heston and told him about my letter to Ms. O'Donnell and he "personally" wrote me back and thanked me for my correspondence. (June 18, 1998)
MORE STATISTICS: Accidents are the leading cause of death among children (0-14 years old). Accidents are inclusive of: vehicle accidents 43.7%, Drowning at 17.6 %, followed by fires (12.9%) and firearm deaths at 3.8%. (source: National Safety Council 1991). A six year study by Johns Hopkins Injury Prevention Center showed the following as leading cause of death among youth; As a vehicle occupant 17%, Pedestrian traffic deaths were 12.3 %, Fire (11.8%), Drowning (13.4%), Bicycle (3.7%), Suffocation (3.5%) and Firearms at 2.9%.
I feel for the emotionally manipulated Moms & Dads. The media and the liberals have led you down a path to think and blame all the ills on the 'firearm'. I think it is time we re-think the direction of our argument? Are guns the problem — or might it be the use of our time — family time — quality child time? Is our family time spent in the car? Are we taking time for swim lessons? Are we mandating helmet use while on a bicycle? Are we acting responsibly? Are we demanding respect & obedience from our children?
I am a single female, with no children, so, why am I addressing this issue? Because, it is these caring, loving, mind controlled parents that are infringing on my right to protect myself from the bad-guy. Much of my work involves driving to unknown destinations and occasionally, on late dark nights. I want the protection that a gun offers me. "If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns". This is a scary thought to me. I am not allowed to have a gun to protect myself, but a criminal can get a gun off the street and threaten my independence, life and livelihood. Interesting statistic: States that have concealed carry laws have a lower rate of violent crimes. In contrast, Washington DC has the highest rate of murder, robbery, and assault in the entire nation. (1994 Uniform Crime Reports/FBI) What does that tell us? Where they are making laws they are not enforcing them!
Therefore, I feel I have brought up some issues: Firstly: I haven't even touched on the right our founding fathers inscribed for my freedom as well as the nation it established — the Second Amendment. GunCite does the best job in defining and teaching the 2nd Amendment. Secondly: Enforce the laws already established and stop wasting tax payers money on more and less efficient laws. Write — re-write — and write again your representative! Thirdly: How about a little less media hysteria and hoopla — and a little more truth, education and knowledge. Write, re-write and write again to the people in the 'media' and then make the ultimate choice — turn off the tube or at least change the channel.
If you CHOOSE to not own a gun — that is your CHOICE. But what about MY freedom of CHOICE? I feel like the defenseless, little fetus with no rights, no choice and no opportunity to protect myself. PUFF! Where are my rights, choice and personal responsibility?
Copyright 1999, 2000 by Toogood Reports.
by Sara Toogood
There is so much media hype about gun control — "Million Mom March" — Rosie O'Donnell — activism, crime, violence — the root of all the evil seems to be the firearm.
When researching statistics to educate myself on my 'feelings' about gun control issues, I was quite surprised with the statistics. The pro-gun control statistics were so dramatically different from the anti-gun control statistics. I was in fear I might be incorrect, but with further digging, and thorough reading, I have realized the difference in the numbers.
The Pro gun statistics use ALL firearm fatalities inclusive of police, gang, suicide, homicide, hunting and home accidents. ( www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nv548-11pdf )
There are 2,337,256 deaths a year in the United States (1998). Heart disease still leads as the number one leading cause of death. Suicide is ranked 8th with Homicide following in 13th position. In 1998, there were 30,768 deaths from firearms. (The numbers used by the pro-gun control enthusiast.) 56.7 % suicide, 39.4 % Homicide. Surprisingly, only 866 deaths from accidental, in-the-home, use of firearms. When I say 'only' I do not mean to infer that this is acceptable, but in comparison to death by induced abortion (over 1 million annually) or suicide this is a very small number.
After reading these statistics, I am alarmed and amazed that these "Moms" are marching for the 866 deaths by handguns, when 'Our' children are 'taking their own lives, by an astronomical statistic.(18,000 a year.). What is wrong with this society that we are taking our own lives and those of the purely innocent at such a rapid rate? It is a sad thing to lose life/limbs of a young child (or that of another) that has been playing, unsupervised, with a handgun. Is it any less sad that we are losing 18,000 people/children a year from depression, sadness, and loneliness? What is the BIG picture here? How can we create positive change? Is the time, energy, and passion spent on 'marching', protesting and rubbing elbows with the 'politically correct' accomplishing the 'real' goal or what is the true objective? It seems that teaching, educating and loving those we are responsible for would be the more positive road to take.
Notice the 'unsupervised' in the previous paragraph above? This is my point of gun control. If persons would take 'personal responsibility' and teach, train, raise their children to know, respect and follow their parent's direction these 866 accidents could be prevented. G-d has given parents the responsibility of rearing their children (Proverbs 22:6) in the direction in which they should go. Parents, let's take responsibility instead of 'blaming' or expecting the 'government' to solve the problem.
Just a little sideline here, I happen to know three sisters (2 of which are moms) that went & walked in the Million Mom March. I also, know of a story about the eldest child of these ladies, who wrote a school paper about anti drugs. She got an "A" and it was so well written it won an award. The sad part of this story, when asked, of the daughter, if she believed what she wrote? "Heck, no! I wrote what my teacher wanted to hear so I could get an "A". An even sadder story is reported in an article by Vin Suprynowicz: Is this sad to anyone else or just me?
How can we get or encourage parents to take Personal Responsibility for their children's education? Educate the Parents. Parents read the statistics, thoroughly, look at the big picture and act. 'Million Moms', how about taking an hour to spend TIME, educating, & loving your child — be it in the use of — or avoiding the misuse of a gun — or enroll them in a local gun safety class. ( www.nra.org ). I am not encouraging gun use by youngsters but EDUCATION. Freedom comes from education not ignorance.
Rosie O'Donnell had Tom Selleck on her show and she berated and attacked him for his stance on gun ownership. I wrote her a letter and told her that she had an incredible window of opportunity to educate the nation in gun use/safety and I asked her to give the NRA an opportunity to express their opinion and properly educate, as they are the leader in gun safety education. But she CHOSE to keep the fear, hysteria and ignorance alive — to voice only ONE side. In response to my letter to Ms. O'Donnell, I got a generically, mass-produced, signed picture of Rosie O'Donnell. I felt like she (her organization) was telling me…. "talk to the hand", unfortunately, a trait common among the liberal regime. They preach fear and perpetuate ignorance. In contrast, I wrote to Charlton Heston and told him about my letter to Ms. O'Donnell and he "personally" wrote me back and thanked me for my correspondence. (June 18, 1998)
MORE STATISTICS: Accidents are the leading cause of death among children (0-14 years old). Accidents are inclusive of: vehicle accidents 43.7%, Drowning at 17.6 %, followed by fires (12.9%) and firearm deaths at 3.8%. (source: National Safety Council 1991). A six year study by Johns Hopkins Injury Prevention Center showed the following as leading cause of death among youth; As a vehicle occupant 17%, Pedestrian traffic deaths were 12.3 %, Fire (11.8%), Drowning (13.4%), Bicycle (3.7%), Suffocation (3.5%) and Firearms at 2.9%.
I feel for the emotionally manipulated Moms & Dads. The media and the liberals have led you down a path to think and blame all the ills on the 'firearm'. I think it is time we re-think the direction of our argument? Are guns the problem — or might it be the use of our time — family time — quality child time? Is our family time spent in the car? Are we taking time for swim lessons? Are we mandating helmet use while on a bicycle? Are we acting responsibly? Are we demanding respect & obedience from our children?
I am a single female, with no children, so, why am I addressing this issue? Because, it is these caring, loving, mind controlled parents that are infringing on my right to protect myself from the bad-guy. Much of my work involves driving to unknown destinations and occasionally, on late dark nights. I want the protection that a gun offers me. "If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns". This is a scary thought to me. I am not allowed to have a gun to protect myself, but a criminal can get a gun off the street and threaten my independence, life and livelihood. Interesting statistic: States that have concealed carry laws have a lower rate of violent crimes. In contrast, Washington DC has the highest rate of murder, robbery, and assault in the entire nation. (1994 Uniform Crime Reports/FBI) What does that tell us? Where they are making laws they are not enforcing them!
Therefore, I feel I have brought up some issues: Firstly: I haven't even touched on the right our founding fathers inscribed for my freedom as well as the nation it established — the Second Amendment. GunCite does the best job in defining and teaching the 2nd Amendment. Secondly: Enforce the laws already established and stop wasting tax payers money on more and less efficient laws. Write — re-write — and write again your representative! Thirdly: How about a little less media hysteria and hoopla — and a little more truth, education and knowledge. Write, re-write and write again to the people in the 'media' and then make the ultimate choice — turn off the tube or at least change the channel.
If you CHOOSE to not own a gun — that is your CHOICE. But what about MY freedom of CHOICE? I feel like the defenseless, little fetus with no rights, no choice and no opportunity to protect myself. PUFF! Where are my rights, choice and personal responsibility?
Copyright 1999, 2000 by Toogood Reports.