Let us ask the question: So exactly how many Americans have died at the hands of a gun? The Answer: More than have died in ALL of our WARS-- put together!!! Let us begin by admitting that gun deaths are a problem. And in America, make that a GREAT BIG PROBLEM. And by agreeing that this is a problem too big to ignore, and it is one worth solving.
So, essentially, it's not an overstatement to say that domestic gun violence IS a war. (Our Biggest of Wars, our most senseless war, with the most casualties, against ourselves and in the name of nothing!!) It's a war that we are losing, badly.
Gun deaths are a war on Public Safety, a war on Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness. A war on our Youth. A war on peace of mind. A war on sanity. A war on Peace. A war on Non-violence. A war against The Feminine. A war on Life itself! It's the Biggest War that we've ever faced and the stakes are more deadly than any stakes that we as a Country have ever faced before! Larry Alan Burns, Conservative Justice in San Diego, said it best when he said,
"If we can't find a way to draw sensible lines with guns that balance individual rights and the public interest, we may as well call the American experiment in democracy a failure." (article below)
Now that we've admitted that America has a problem, worth solving, let's talk about how we got here. Why did America become a hotbed of Cultural Gun Death?
Guns, like all others, are an industry. And every industry profits off of a message. The Gun Industry has been very successful at promoting the message of having a weapon in the name of Self-preservation, Stuff preservation, and to fend off a Tyrannical Government.
So, let's examine them one-by-one.
In terms of Self-preservation, as students of Truth, we know that nothing outside of ourselves makes us more of anything-- a gun doesn't make us more safe.
In fact, it is proven that they put their owners and their families in considerably more danger of suicide, accidental death and homicide!
Having a gun certainly doesn't make us more courageous, in fact, having a weapon is the ultimate expression of powerlessness and insecurity. It's confronting Life ourselves that makes us grow in courage and confidence!! As beautifully demonstrated by this Father's wisdom from the movie Friday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE28xzIGnE8
If anything, carrying a gun makes one forget their innate power, that they are made in the likeness of the Omniscient, Omnipresent, OmniPowerful Creator!!
I've never owned a gun, but when I was a young wife, living in a cheap and somewhat sketchy neighborhood, my husband became an over-the-road truck driver and was gone most of the time. I was alone and afraid a lot, especially at night, and didn't like feeling that way. I put the biggest knife in the house under my bed, 'just in case.' I could barely sleep all night! That feeling of cold metal entered my body and my consciousness; that coldness started to become me. It consumed my thoughts all night-- the feeling of the blade and cutting-- and when I did finally sleep my dreams were tortured and awful. The knife only lasted one night and I realized what I was doing to myself not only didn't serve me, but was more harm than anyone else was perpetrating on me. I can only imagine what effect it would have had on me if I had continued to have it within my reach for longer... #notgood
If a person is truly worried about their safety, Martial Arts is a much more empowering, admirable solution.
On the subject of protecting your belongings, I think a relevant and important question ask is,
"Is your stuff so valuable to you that you would
kill someone over it?"
(Personally, I am with Gandhi). "There are many causes that I am willing to die for. But none that I am willing to kill for."
And thirdly, yes, I believe that it's fine for an informed citizenry to have arms in case an over-throw is needed. But that's not what's happening here! What's happening here is men killing their ex-girlfriends. Children dying walking down the street. Scared men gunning down an approaching stranger because he's wearing a Hooded Sweatshirt, and another shooting someone dead for turning his car around in his driveway, a man killing a couple because of a fight over dog-poop on his porch! These are not informed citizens!! These are people Living in paranoid fear and killing anything that makes them slightly uncomfortable!!
Having a weapon where you Live is not a home, in my book. A home is a cozy sanctuary, a soft place to fall. A family with a gun in their house is FIVE TIMES more likely to have a suicide in that family, EIGHT TIMES more likely that a domestic dispute will end in a homicide and a DOZEN TIMES more likely to have a family member or a guest killed in their home! Let's be honest, these well-meaning intentions of 'protecting the family' is putting them at far greater risk.
The Truth is, once you find Peace of Mind, you'll NEVER desire a weapon. Nor would you imagine yourself ever using one against someone!
For people who insist that guns are this great addition to their Life, I'm inspired to share what I consider the quintessential question posed by Piers Morgan, "If 'guns don't kill' - then what else do they do?"
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