He was right, keeping the status quo is a myth that we use to rationalize poor performance. Every day you can either get better at what you do or get worse at it. If you are preparing for a for a football game, you either improve as a player and as a team, or you get worse. If you are designing a building, every line on every page either adds to, or detracts from, the design of the space and to the built environment as a whole. If you are trying to lose weight, every meal you eat helps you get to that goal faster or holds you back longer. I seem to get worse at that one by the day.
After a day like Friday, we will either get better as a people and as a country or get worse, keeping the status quo is a myth. Inaction is equal to poor action. I have been a strong believer in the second amendment for as long as I can remember, and I remain so today. I also believe that we need to reinstate the assault weapons ban that was in place from 1994 to 2004, and make it permanent. There is no place for weapons of war on the streets or in the homes of America.
How can I be a defender of the second amendment and also be in favor of an assault weapons ban? Because I believe that the second amendment should be treated just like the other twenty six - with rational thought and reasonable limits. The Bill of Rights grants us the freedom of speech, but not to yell fire in a crowded theater. It grants us the freedom of press, but not to dishonestly slander, the freedom to assemble but not to riot. It protects us from unreasonable search and seizure, but not from warrantless wiretaps of our phone calls. We should have the right to keep and bear arms, but not assault weapons and high capacity magazines that are specifically designed to efficiently end the highest number of human lives as fast as mechanically possible.
How can I be a defender of the second amendment and also be in favor of an assault weapons ban? Because I believe that the second amendment should be treated just like the other twenty six - with rational thought and reasonable limits. The Bill of Rights grants us the freedom of speech, but not to yell fire in a crowded theater. It grants us the freedom of press, but not to dishonestly slander, the freedom to assemble but not to riot. It protects us from unreasonable search and seizure, but not from warrantless wiretaps of our phone calls. We should have the right to keep and bear arms, but not assault weapons and high capacity magazines that are specifically designed to efficiently end the highest number of human lives as fast as mechanically possible.
There are opponents on either side of this view. Those that wish to ban all guns, and those do not want any regulation, whatsoever. I respectfully disagree with both of these views. Shaking your fist and yelling that your side is right and good and that the other side is wrong and evil, is destructive to rational discourse, and accomplishes nothing. We are better than that. At least we can be.
Statistics tell us that we have a problem with guns in this country, and that the problem is getting worse by the day. Every country in the developed world that has instituted restrictions on gun ownership has been made better because of it. I am not going to draw this out with a list of statistics, but I will encourage you to do your own unbiased research if you disagree with me, and I am confident that you will come to the same conclusion that I have. The number of killing sprees in this country is nothing but unacceptable, and it is time we did something about it.
Some opponents say we need to ban all guns and ammunition immediately, no compromise. Aside from the fact that this is not politically possible, there is no reason to take away the guns of the overwhelming majority of law abiding citizens and end the long tradition of sport and hunting associated with them.
Some say the answer is more guns, and have even gone as far to suggest soldiers, or some sort of para-military force in schools. It is difficult to reply seriously to this view, but I will offer this. You know that uneasy feeling that comes with being in an airport in Mexico or Croatia, surrounded by soldiers with automatic weapons, like you've just stepped into a war zone? Is that really the environment that we want to live our lives in, or that we want to send our kids to learn in? And for the crazies who are worried that we might have to someday violently overthrow the government, you really want the government guarding elementary schools with soldiers when that day comes?
Some say that banning assault weapons will not stop all deaths by guns, so why even bother? It is true that banning assault weapons will not end all deaths, but it is also true that some lives will be saved. We do not have a cure for cancer, does that mean that we should throw up our hands and not even try to fight it? Why waste the billions of dollars spent on cancer research if people are still going to die?
Because some people are going to live.
I think that anyone who has lost a loved one to that horrific disease, or anyone who has spent a few more days or months or years with someone they love who has beaten it will tell you that it is absolutely worth the fight. Just because people are still dying does not mean we should stop trying to save others.
Opponents will also say that if we outlaw assault weapons, then only criminals will have them, and if someone wants to go on a shooting spree, they will find a way to do it. They will get the weapons somehow. I was not given the gift of premonition that these people were, but I am willing to ask this question. What if the next person that wants to shoot up an elementary school tries to find an assault riffle on the black market, but tries to buy from an undercover agent, and the tragedy is averted?
What if that keeps 27 lives from being snuffed out an elementary school? What if that keeps 20 first graders from being murdered, execution style, each one shot multiple times, one as many as ten times?
What if it was your child that was shot ten times while learning to read?
Statistics tell us that we have a problem with guns in this country, and that the problem is getting worse by the day. Every country in the developed world that has instituted restrictions on gun ownership has been made better because of it. I am not going to draw this out with a list of statistics, but I will encourage you to do your own unbiased research if you disagree with me, and I am confident that you will come to the same conclusion that I have. The number of killing sprees in this country is nothing but unacceptable, and it is time we did something about it.
Some opponents say we need to ban all guns and ammunition immediately, no compromise. Aside from the fact that this is not politically possible, there is no reason to take away the guns of the overwhelming majority of law abiding citizens and end the long tradition of sport and hunting associated with them.
Some say the answer is more guns, and have even gone as far to suggest soldiers, or some sort of para-military force in schools. It is difficult to reply seriously to this view, but I will offer this. You know that uneasy feeling that comes with being in an airport in Mexico or Croatia, surrounded by soldiers with automatic weapons, like you've just stepped into a war zone? Is that really the environment that we want to live our lives in, or that we want to send our kids to learn in? And for the crazies who are worried that we might have to someday violently overthrow the government, you really want the government guarding elementary schools with soldiers when that day comes?
Some say that banning assault weapons will not stop all deaths by guns, so why even bother? It is true that banning assault weapons will not end all deaths, but it is also true that some lives will be saved. We do not have a cure for cancer, does that mean that we should throw up our hands and not even try to fight it? Why waste the billions of dollars spent on cancer research if people are still going to die?
Because some people are going to live.
I think that anyone who has lost a loved one to that horrific disease, or anyone who has spent a few more days or months or years with someone they love who has beaten it will tell you that it is absolutely worth the fight. Just because people are still dying does not mean we should stop trying to save others.
Opponents will also say that if we outlaw assault weapons, then only criminals will have them, and if someone wants to go on a shooting spree, they will find a way to do it. They will get the weapons somehow. I was not given the gift of premonition that these people were, but I am willing to ask this question. What if the next person that wants to shoot up an elementary school tries to find an assault riffle on the black market, but tries to buy from an undercover agent, and the tragedy is averted?
What if that keeps 27 lives from being snuffed out an elementary school? What if that keeps 20 first graders from being murdered, execution style, each one shot multiple times, one as many as ten times?
What if it was your child that was shot ten times while learning to read?
While I said that I will not bog this down with statistics, I will repeat just one jaw-dropping statistic from Nicholas Kristof's editorial in Saturday's New York Times. Children ages 5 to 14 in America are thirteen times more likely to be murdered with guns as children in other industrialized countries, according to Harvard public health specialist David Hemenway. Just let that sink in for a minute. Read it again if you have to. Seriously, read that again.
Read the rest of Kristof's op-ed here.
I have fired hand guns and automatic weapons, own a couple of shotguns, and I love to shoot. I would even support the right to continue to shoot automatic weapons at licensed and inspected ranges controlled by the state. But ordinary citizens should not be able to own them or carry them on the street.
I'm willing to give up my right to own an assault weapon to give the small chance that a day like Friday can be avoided in the future. Are you willing to give up yours?
I will be writing my representatives to voice my opinion, and I encourage you to do the same. Ask your representatives to act in the best interests of our children, and not to tuck tail and cower to threats from the NRA.
I know that there are many out there who disagree with me, and I encourage you to write as well. If you are not willing to give up your right to own an assault weapon to give the small chance that six people wont be killed at at a shopping mall while talking to their congresswoman, or that your neighbor wont be killed while watching a movie at the theater tonight, or that the child down the road wont be murdered at school tomorrow, that is your right, and you should make it known.
We will either get better as a country, or get worse, there is no such thing as staying the same.
We will either get better as a country, or get worse, there is no such thing as staying the same.
If you live in New Haven, your Representative is Rosa DeLauro:
Washington, D.C. Office
2413 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3661
Fax:(202) 225-4890
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Main District Office
59 Elm Street
New Haven, CT 06510
(203) 562-3718
Fax:(203) 772-2260
Phone: 203-378-9005
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Senators are Joe Lieberman:
Connecticut Office
One Constitution Plaza
7th Floor
Hartford, CT 06103
860.549.8463 (Voice)
800.225.5605 (In CT)
866.317.2242 (Fax)
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Washington DC Office
706 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202.224.4041 (Voice)
202.224.9750 (Fax)
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And Richard Blumenthal:
- Hartford90 State House Square, 10th FloorHartford, CT, 06103tel (860) 258-6940fax (860) 258-6958
Washington D.C.
702 Hart Senate Office Bldg.Washington, DC, 20510tel (202) 224-2823fax (202) 224-9673If you are in Lawrence or northeast Kansas, your congressman is Kevin Yoder:Washington, DC214 Cannon HOBWashington, DC 20515Phone: (202) 225-2865Hours: Monday-Friday9:00AM -6:00PM EST
Overland Park7325 W. 79th St.Overland Park, KS 66204Phone: (913) 621-0832Fax: (913) 621-1533Hours: Monday-Friday8:00AM -5:00PM CST
Senators are Jerry Moran:
Russell Senate Office BuildingRoom 354Washington, D.C. 20510Phone: (202) 224-6521Fax: (202) 228-6966
P.O. Box 115423600 College Blvd Suite 201Olathe, KS 66061Phone: (913) 393-0711Fax: (913) 768-1366
and Pat Roberts:
Washington, D.C. Office
109 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-1605Phone: 202-224-4774Fax: 202-224-3514Overland Park, KS Office
11900 College Boulevard
Suite 203Overland Park, KS 66210Phone: (913) 451-9343Fax: (913) 451-9446
