I remember thinking that when President Obama gave a speech just four days after Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head by an estranged gunman, our nation would finally wake up to all the nasty violence that plagues our country. A CONGRESSWOMAN WAS SHOT IN THE HEAD! But despite all of the pain our country felt during that time, it was revealed that Jared Lee Loughner, the shooter of Ms. Giffords, despite being mentally ill, was able to legally purchase a Glock 19 semi-automatic handgun that he used to killed six people, while injuring 13 others. So, we sort of felt helpless because the law was on his side to own a weapon. And one person who definitely felt helpless that day was 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, who was born on September 11, 2001 and was taken from us by a single bullet that was bought at Wal-Mart, where you can "save money" and "live better!"
I was convinced that this was the wake-up call to our fellow citizens that maybe there were some guns in America that were in the hands of the wrong people. But, unfortunately we hit the snooze button on our alarm and went back to sleep.
Then there was a 17-year-old young man walking home on early Sunday night, in a light rain, with a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea in his hands. Never would he have thought that this night would be his last, because he left the TV on at his house ... the flickering of the pre-game to the NBA All-Star extravaganza. But a guy who had called 911 46 times in the last 15 months would use his Kel-Tec PF-9 9mm semi-automatic pistol to put one bullet in the chest of Trayvon Martin to end his life.
If this is not the moment that we all stop pressing snooze on our alarm clocks and wake up to the fact that our gun use in this country is out of control, then I am not sure we ever will.
I grew up in a community in southeast Queens, New York where gun violence has become more common than a Run-DMC record on the radio in the '80s. I read the news on GlobalGrind every morning and hear about little kids finding their parent's guns under pillows and shooting themselves, by accident. I listened to the speeches at the National Rifle Association's recent convention in St. Louis about how men need guns that can blow up buildings to kill animals that I will never eat. I see the front page of the papers and I am pained by the shootings of police officers by "hollow-head" bullets that can shoot through a metal door. I get emails from the anti-violence heroine Erica Ford listing the 32 incidents of gun violence in New York City in a 24 hour period this week. The alarm is going off at its highest volume, but somehow we are sleeping right through it.
The same weekend that Gabrielle Giffords was shot, 40 kids got shot in the city of Chicago alone, a great number of whom were totally innocent. We talked for a few days about the horrible tragedy in Tucson, but we never mentioned those kids in Chicago. We never mentioned all of the mothers of the young men and women who get killed everyday in cities and towns across this country ... some kids who were just walking home from school or sometimes asleep in their beds. All of these beautiful parents want the violence to stop, and they know the only way for it to stop is to stop the spreading of guns in our communities.
We can use all the excuses we want or hide behind the words of an amendment that was written in the 18th century that references "a well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State," as reasons for not doing anything about the disease that has infected our entire nation. This is not an issue of good people abusing the right to bear arms. This is an issue of too many guns that are too easily available that are killing too many people. I commend Bill Cosby's assessment of the Trayvon Martin tragic situation as not just an issue about race, but really about guns. I agree with him and the work must start now.
I have supported efforts by New York City's Mayor, Mike Bloomberg, to close the "gun show loophole," which will require background checks on guns that are being re-sold, because right now the seller is not required to do one (at gun shows). I support an end to "Stand Your Ground" laws in the 25 states that have this law on the books. After reading about Bo Morrison's tragic story in Wisconsin yesterday on GlobalGrind, I am convinced even more that we must END all of these wild west, shoot first promoting laws. I believe that we must make the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as it has not been in effect since 2004. I am inspired by the work of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence and their efforts to create a mandate that requires all bullets to be micro-stamped, so we know where they were bought. These are all things that will move us in the right direction. A direction towards a more humane and less violent nation. A nation that will celebrate our young people, not bury them at an early age.
I am hopeful that this time, we may not sleep through the alarm. When Sybrina Fulton, the heroic mother of Trayvon Martin, sat in my office last week and shared her resilience and compassion with me, as painful as it might have been to hear, I felt like this might be the final wake up call. Trayvon Martin didn't just die because George Zimmerman thought he looked "suspicious." Trayvon died because Zimmerman pulled the trigger of a gun. If George Zimmerman was not carrying a Kel-Tec PF-9 9mm semi-automatic pistol, Trayvon would have gotten to eat all of those Skittles and drink the entire can of iced tea. And his mother and father would not have to live through the worst nightmare that a parent can possibly imagine.
Hoodies Up. Guns down.
Follow Russell Simmons on Twitter: www.twitter.com/unclerush
But every time I try to see their way I just read an article like this one! Some person who obviously does not know anything about guns and makes out of place comments. Overall they just make themselves seem uneducated. Don't they have someone look over their articles before they print them!?
I really feel bad for the anti-gun community, they just don't know! I feel like I have to put on kid gloves every time I have a conversation with one of them.
I guess that may be the pivitol issue, when your bodyguards (of legislators) no longer need to carry the weapons, I guess its legitimate that the PUBLIC then, does not need to carry weapons..................
Good post!
I am pained that someone who ran a rap record label doesn't know that the term is "hollow-point" and that said bullets are actually far less likely to penetrate a metal door than a typical hardball round. As usual, the most vociferous anti-gun people are the ones who know the least about them.
Ah, Russell. As quick to throw in a little self-referencing old glory as ever.
Two points, Russell. First, a look at any chart of gun deaths over the past 30 years will show that they're actually down quite a bit from their spike in the early 90's (you know, back when your label, Def Jam, was in its prime and everyone was blaming gangsta rap albums for the rise in gun crime). Why wasn't that "the moment America had to wake up"?
Second, with black kids dying from guns being not an irregular occurrence, why is Trayvon's case the one that should send us into gun grab mode? In my city, a 13-year old son of a pastor was killed in a drive-by with no provocation on his way home from school. A 14 year old was pinned to the ground by a 20-year old while an accomplice shot him. Both of those kids were black (and as young and innocent as Trayvon's famous 5-year old picture is meant to make him look). Then again, so were the shooters, so of course, you, Al and Jesse didn't show up for them, or any of the countless other youths affected by gun violence. So why now?
The First step is to take advantage of high profile incidents.
The Second step is to marginalize legal gun use and historic precedent.
The Third step is to make some guns seem more dangerous than others, even if they are not.
The Fourth step is to register every sale.
The Fifth step is a robust “Shall Issue” permitting process.
The Final step is to encourage and incentivize the forfeiture of arms.
Allow ownership of guns, which satisfies the 2nd amendment, but strictly prohibit their use, in times of peace, on US soil.
The vast majority of murder defendants could not legally purchase or possess a firearm, but they still found some way to get them illegally. Violating the rights of law-abiding citizens to stop criminals has never and will never work.
Had it been Russell Simmons and his entourage of bodyguards there in that wild and woolly Arizona parking lot, where everyone was free to carry concealed, Loughner would have been Swiss cheese before anyone could yell "Gun control!"
Giffords was pro-gun, hence it is presumed that she, or at least one or two of her entourage and/or audience might have been carrying. Instead an unskilled deranged shooter had to be taken down by an old geezer with an unlicensed lawn chair.
So make up your mind, Simmons. Would you rather your bodyguards be required to carry only aluminum lawn chairs? (Preferably without the built-in snooze alarm option?)
Answer us this, Russ: In Queens, in the 1980s, one of the most gun-restricted places I've ever lived and worked (and I did so in many, including DC, Baltimore, Boston, San Diego, and even Ft. Lauderdale, FL), how difficult would it have been for you to acquire a handgun? In Queens NY, in the 1980s, Russell.
Remember, I lived and worked in both armed and unarmed security there, so I will know if you are lying.
(Oh, that's right, small chance of that happening; you haven't shown your face here that I can see since you typed this ridiculous opinion piece. Apparently rational discussion is not your strong suit, but you do love to hear yourself type.)
Excellent post as well. I did not know the Gab was pro gun. Your last paragraph hit the mark perfectly not only for mogul Simmons but a lot of other bloggers as well.
1991 : 14,373 ... 745
1992 : 15,489 ... 706
1993 : 16,136 ... 757
1994 : 15,463 ... 724
1995 : 13,673 ... 654
1996 : 10,744 ... 546
1997 : 10,729 ... 638
1998 : 9,257 ... 548
1999 : 8,480 ... 400
2000 : 8,661 ... 411
2001 : 8,719 ... 389
2002 : 9,528 ... 488
2003 : 9,659 ... 392
2004 : 9,385 ... 403
2005 : 10,100 ... 442
2006 : 10,225 ... 438
2007 : 10,129 ... 453
2008 : 9,528 ... 380
2009 : 9,199 ... 351
2010 : 8,775 ... 358
The fact is that firearm-related murders and, more specifically, rifle-related murders ("assault weapons") have been trending down by and large regardless of any arbitrary bans. From 1995-2004, we can see both rates trend down and then begin an upswing before the ban expired, but they again started to trend down in 2006, which was two years after the ban expired. What does that tell us? The ban didn't matter, and a future ban wouldn't matter. Look at the three most recent years available from the FBI Uniform Crime Report (2008-2010). Rifle-related murders were lower than any three-year period during the ban. How can that be, if what the anti-gunners claim is true?
Just look at when the Brady Campaign claimed you could buy a used .50 BMG sniper rifle for less than $30 on the internet, and it was the VPC that created the "assault weapon" nonsense.
Also, look at Pete King (R-NY). He received a 73 from the Brady Campaign for 1987-1999, and he bottomed out at a 59 for them up to 2009. He received a D from the NRA in 2008, and the GOA gave him an F in 2010. How about Dick Lugar (R-IN). The NRA gave him a D+ in 2006, and the GOA gave him an F in 2010. He hovers in the 50s for the Brady Campaign. Lugar is joined by Dan Coats (R-IN), who received a 50 from the NRA in 1993-94 and a C from the GOA in 2010.
And it was Ronald Reagan who signed the 1986 FOPA, which made it impossible for civilians to buy new-production select-fire weapons after that point. As Governor of California, Reagan also signed the Mulford Act, which prohibited the "carrying of firearms on one's person or in a vehicle, in any public place or on any public street."
Interesting. I didn't know there were bullets that could violate the laws of physics.
The correct term is hollow-point bullets and they do not penetrate metal doors. Some of them can barely penetrate thick clothing. That is because they are designed to penetrate as little as possible. As the bullet hits its target, it expands, therefore decreasing the amount of energy it carries. That decreases the chance that they over penetrate their targets causing damage to unintended targets.
They just want to take away YOUR GUNS...
Guess what. You have the wrong hands.
Americans don't realize that it is only their country, and theirs alone in the developed world that has this kind of frontier, siege, defend oneself mentality.
It might have been appropriate and necessary 250 years ago, but now it's resulted in a country flooded with guns. And as the evidence shows, when you have a country flooded with guns and where guns are easily accessible to most the population, you usually have a violence-minded population with consequent gun violence and death.
Check out the difference in Canada, France, the UK, etc. Imagine an American city of 3 million with only 60 murders a year, and only 30 committed with guns. Imagine children accidentally firing off guns as being exceedingly rare, and school shootings a once in a decade or two event. That's what we have here.
And it's what you don't have there because of the violence, me-against-you mentality. But if you like it that way, fine...go ahead and live in your gated communities, feel unsafe walking around, and shrug off all of those pointless deaths each year. All in the name of "preventing tyranny" or some such fantasy.