The idle musings of a former military man, former computer geek, medically retired pastor and now full-time writer. Contents guaranteed to offend the politically correct and anal-retentive from time to time. My approach to life is that it should be taken with a large helping of laughter, and sufficient firepower to keep it tamed!
Monday, September 12, 2016
A tragedy in Michigan
It's hard to know where to begin with the deaths of two young men in Kalamazoo, Michigan this weekend.
According to several news reports, Marsavious Frazier, Daquarion Hunter and at least one more youth were handling a firearm. One of the two named youths accidentally fired a shot, which killed the other; whereupon, distraught, the shooter turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. The third youth was a witness, who held the dying youngsters in his arms and later informed police what had happened. I daresay he's going to need some serious counseling intervention.
How I wish these kids had had the sense not to fool around with a gun they didn't know how to handle! That's the root cause of this tragedy. The NRA's Eddie Eagle program for children teaches them the right approach to dealing with a firearm: stop, don't touch, leave the area, tell an adult. Unfortunately, these youngsters don't appear to have had the benefit of such training when they were younger. Like most teenagers, they probably thought it was 'cool' to fiddle with a gun. There's no indication that they were anything but good citizens; no reports of gang involvement, drug use, or anything else negative at all. Just idle playing around . . . and now two promising lives have been snuffed out, and two families devastated.
If you, like me, are of a spiritual and/or religious inclination, please pray for all the young men involved, alive and dead, and for their families. This will be very hard for the survivors to live with, particularly the young man who witnessed everything. It's the kind of thing that shatters lives for years - possibly even generations - to come. It's also going to be used as fuel for their arguments by those opposed to the Second Amendment and private firearms ownership. Such pointless tragedies are grist to their mill, and the rest of us will now have to work that much harder to counter them.
Peter
Whenever one of the Moms against icky guns or one of the Brady banner crowd dares to use their tired phrase, "it's for the children," please spit in their eye and call them the sanctimonious liars that they are.
ReplyDeleteThere are almost certainly as many firearms in the world as there are people. We know that is the case in the United States. A bit more than 300 million citizens and at least as many guns.
Now you can either attempt to shield and protect your precious offspring from ever encountering one of those weapons you hate so much, or with a bit of instruction you can make them safe from ever hurting themselves or other through an unfortunate accident.
I have in the past and will continue to call for age appropriate safety and handling instruction at all levels of public school.
"Oh, we can't talk about guns, it might give them ideas!" Really? Other than what they are inundated with on a daily basis through movies and TV and video games? Except of course that what they learn from the media is invariably wrong.
Simple question, what makes more sense, trying to insulate your child from literally billions of firearms, or give them the training to be safe no matter what they encounter?
Dammit, just... Dammit... Train the kids right and early, and this would never have happened!
ReplyDeleteBut no, watch the Moms Demand Attention pack scream when someone suggests bringing the Eddie Eagle curriculum into schools. God forbid we should teach kids to treat firearms as what they are: tools. Granted, they can be dangerous; chainsaws are dangerous too.
ReplyDeleteBut no, it's better children live in ignorance and blind terror rather than be cautious and careful.
With names like Marsavious and Daquarion, I'd guess that their firearm knowledge came from movies and rap songs instead of NRA programs and gun clubs. It's truly sad.
ReplyDeleteMy grandson spent some time in Mexico, I'm having to correct the gangsta gun handling. Luckily, he wants to be a Marine, so pointing out that Marines AIM instead of spraying works.
We can teach them how to wear a condom, but God forbid you teach them the basics on how to clear and safe a weapon. My basic tactic is to ask why they enjoy dancing in the blood of innocents so much, since the thing that would prevent it is refused, always. Always pointing out to any observers the irrational positions.
ReplyDelete"I didn't do ANYTHING - the gun just went off" was probably the excuse used.
ReplyDeleteIf they are truly wanting to curb tragedies like this, they should teach gun safety in schools. No really - the NRA or local police departments could teach how to SAFELY handle firearms and determine if the gun is loaded.
They teach sex education so that kids will know the facts. Aren't saving lives important to them ?
It's all well and good to talk about teaching weapons safety practices, to which I wholeheartedly am in favour of, but one question remains begging.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the circumstances of how they obtained the weapon in the first place?.