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RSS FeedThe murder of NFL's Sean Taylor: New icon for gun control?
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| Yes | 43% | 3 votes | Total: 7 votes | |
| No | 57% | 4 votes |
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Add to FavoritesI want to take a moment to mention the passing of Sean Taylor, the Redskins Pro Bowl free safety, who died from a femoral artery gunshot wound. The news is making all the headlines, and already, there are calls that this is "endemic" of our "gun crazed society", and no doubt, Taylor will be used as an icon of brilliance cut short that could've been avoided if not for gun violence.
So, let's put this in perspective.
On average, 27 Americans are killed by gun related violence every day. (10,100 firearms related homicides reported in 2005, 75% of them with handguns.) There were 42,300 traffic fatalities in the US during that same year, or about 116 per day.
There are 70 million handguns in the US, and roughly 190 million passenger vehicles.
About 1 in 9,200 handguns is involved in a homicide. About 1 in 4,500 single passenger automobiles are involved in a fatality. Now, you can make an argument that the average time of use between fatalities is lower with guns, because you can't use the gun to pick up the kids from soccer practice...but the point of fact is that a higher percentage of automobiles will be involved in an auto accident than guns will. Furthermore, when you compare the rate of injury, about 1 in 5,600 firearms is involved in an injury, and 1 in 2,300 automobiles are. This means that your car is roughly 2.5x as lethal as a firearm.
A further case in point - there are a higher percentage of unregistered and unlicensed automobiles on the road than there are unregistered and unlicensed guns in the US populace. The likelihood that a registered gun will be used in a homicide is vanishingly low; criminals steal guns to commit crimes. (Roughly 90% of the firearms used to commit homicides are stolen). Criminals, when asked in prison, go to neighborhoods where they don't expect the residents to have guns - they're not stupid. They know the advantage lies with them if they're armed and the person they're preying on is not.
According to the FBI's statistics, 27 people per day die in firearms related homicides. 6,800 crimes are prevented each day by a responsible citizen exercising his right to self protection.
A gun, like a car, is a tool. Statistics show that more gun owners are responsible with their tool than most car owners are.
Sean Taylor died with a machete in his hands - he kept it in his bedroom for self-defense, per the official police report and statements from his girlfriend and his father. Taylor has also been up on charges (and was serving probation) for firearms charges - he brandished a firearm in the face of someone on his property over a reputedly stolen all terrain vehicle. Taylor evidently felt that there was enough risk to his life that he kept a machete. In. His. Bedroom. As someone serving out probation, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm, so he did the best he could.
Imagine the hue and cry there'd have been if Taylor, a gifted athlete with phenomenal upper body strength and reflexes, had killed that home intruder with a machete. We'd be talking about how sad it is that he's up on charges for manslaughter, how the violence of his past had come back to haunt him. There would probably be marches and candle-lit vigils for his victim's memory, maybe even a motion to put a national waiting period of machetes.
It is time we stopped blaming the tool for the actions of the hand that holds it. Our casual culture of auto ownership and licensing doesn't keep people from illegally driving cars, and yet we don't blame the cars for the roads of gore that happen every holiday weekend. Nor should we be blaming firearms ownership for the deaths that occur in our dysfunctional urban society, where children grow up without parents, without role models, and with an educational system meant to keep them in the dark ages.
Let's turn this into a referendum on the culture that young black men live in - one where a multi-millionaire sports star felt that his life was at enough risk that he slept with a machete by his bed, like someone waiting for tribal violence in Africa, not a referendum on the evils of gun ownership.
Learn more about this author, Ken Burnside.
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No
The tragic death of Sean Taylor, had an effect on every NFL fan, the hearts of many went out to his family, his friends, and his teammates and his competitors. Many have voiced that there needs to be more control of firearms, because of this, and other firearm related tragedies. We, the people, have enacted several pieces of legislation to limit where firearms are allowed, and not. One has to wonder, however, if Sean had his own gun, or if someone at Virginia Tech or Columbine High School had a gun, if lives of many couldn't have been saved. If Sean did have his own weapon, and he killed the burglar instead, would the NRA have sought Sean to be an icon for them?
The right to bear arms was put into The U.S. Constitution, because our forefathers agreed that in order to keep government at bay, the people themselves needed to be armed. They had learned the lessons of the all the great Empires of the past, and government control of weapons had led to their fall. Imagine how easy it would be for an army, and not even a good one, to seize control of a major city here in the United States if none of the citizens had access to weapons. Which army would have the easiest time taking over the U.S.? Our own.
This is not to say that all gun control is bad. There are obvious people whom should not own firearms. It would be ridiculous for a violent felon to be allowed to carry or purchase a weapon. People who are mentally unstable, diagnosed non-recovering alcoholics and drug addicts, should not be allowed either. Is there a need for a private citizen to own big powerful anti-tank weapons, or armor piercing ammunition? Yes. Our military is using all of the best technology, and so are those of other countries. Since we are allowed by the Constitution, how are we to form a militia, without them? We should at least have some kind of defense. Even today our government has plans in place to quell "civil unrest" here in the U.S. not only with our own troops, but with those of the UN and other countries. Somehow, Americans have forgotten that the "civil" part of that phrase may themselves as well. Civil unrest is defined as "Of, relating to, or befitting a citizen or citizens", according to Yahoo's dictionary.
Why would they feel the need to prepare for this, when the people they work for, are the same people they are trying to quell? Why do our current leaders, seem to drift further and further away from the Constitution? At one time, that document was treated as the sacred document that it is. Now, everyone from the Congress, the Supreme Court, or the White House treats that document like the bible instead. Interpreting it any way they like, depending on the current circumstances. The U.S.Constitution, the ultimate American Law, and can only be changed by using Article V which states:
"The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate."
We need to choose our leaders who best uphold the constitution. Go read it, so you know what it means. Teach it to your children. Those who don't should be voted out of office during the following election. There should also be a better way for the people to fire its leaders sooner, when they don't keep their word, or continue to make things worse. Some states have that option, so why shouldn't all of the voters of the U.S. The balance of power that is essential to our form of government has tilted to the executive. We have in place something more akin to a king or dictator, than what the likes of George Washington or Thomas Jefferson had in mind.
Learn more about this author, Suspicious Mind.
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