Can We Have a Serious Discussion About Regulation -- Not Elimination -- of Gun Ownership?
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“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
9,146 people killed in 2011. The United States is beaten out by only (5) countries in the world:
· Brazil
· Colombia
· Mexico
· Venezuela
The US is number (1) in the world in gun ownership.
What are the number of homicides by firearm rankings in the world? We get beaten by countries such as:
· Guatemala
· Honduras
· Colombia
· Venezuela
· Brazil
· Mexico
· Philippines
· Uruguay
What are the sad important facts?
· The US has the highest gun ownership rate in the world - an average of 88 per 100 people. That puts it first in the world for gun ownership - and even the number two country, Yemen, has significantly fewer - 54.8 per 100 people
· But the US does not have the worst firearm murder rate - that prize belongs to Honduras, El Salvador and Jamaica. In fact, the US is number 28, with a rate of 2.97 per 100,000 people
· Puerto Rico tops the world's table for firearms murders as a percentage of all homicides - 94.8%. It's followed by Sierra Leone in Africa and Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean
United States is number one “with a bullet” for average total of all civilian firearms owned at 270 million guns; our closest competitor is India with a measly 46 million guns.
When should a country look to responsible regulation of weapons? At 10,000 killed yearly; 15,000; 25,000?
When will we see as acceptable for an organization claiming to be a training and hobby group to spend $10 million dollars in 2011 trying to influence US politics? The National Rifle Association does that every election cycle.
Does “keep and bear arms” mean to possess any number of weapons of any kind? Does it mean that grenade launchers and surface-to-air missile launchers are fair possessions? If missile launchers are unacceptable, why? An interpretation of the second amendment as provided by the National Rifle Association would not preclude the ownership of any type of weapon would it?
When will we deem as ludicrous that the answer to gun regulation is more guns and the answer to safety in our schools is to arm teachers? When will we think statements like these are reckless and, well, stupid?
When will we as a people decide that enough is enough when children are gunned down in schools?