Violence Policy Center
One of the most depressing scenes that can be viewed on television today is gang violence and shootings. It is growing in epidemic proportions all over the country. In the city I live in, four people were murdered in gang related incidents within the last 7 days, three of them within a few blocks of the other. And all involved guns. This isn’t a sermon on what and what not to do. That is up to each individual person and family.
What it is, courtesy of today’s site, Violence Policy Center, is an attempt to understand what violence and guns are, and what can be done to lessen its impact on society. . Here you can learn about the root causes of why guns are so popular, how the affect all age ranges, from accidental shooting of youngsters, to murder-suicides of elderly couples. It is an attempt to understand the problem, because unless it can be understood, it can’t be corrected. There are federal and state policies listed, as well as discussions about liability. It is a good place for a non-firing range education into firearms.
This is a serious site. Not a lot of levity here. But it is an important site, which is why I include it today. It can help make the world a better place if we, as parents, can help and talk with our children about things like this. It is after all, as Louie Armstong sings, “a wonderful world”.
VPC has a long histroy of playing fast and loose with facts. In a study they released on gun deaths in 2009, 30 of the 57 gun related deaths VPC has mischaracterized.
For families, the real truth about firearms is that you should lock up Jeffery’s/Jennifer’s bike as they are far more likely to be killed riding a bike than shot by a firearm. The majority of children shot by firearms occur in drug/gang households where guns are used in the criminal enterprises.
If you are truly fearful of your child be harmed by a firearm, get an Eddie Eagle program started at your school where children are taught “Stop, Don’t Touch, Leave the Area, Tell an Adult.”
If you are worried about having a Sandy Hook, do what the state of Utah did and allow trained individuals to carry on campus. Utah has not had a Sandy Hook incident since before the 1994 Safe Schools Act that created “Gun Free Zones” sometimes called “Magnets for Maniacs.”
That was BayouBountyHunters the N is next to B on my keyboard