Thursday, April 3, 2014

Applying the Same "Logic"

Satire
noun
1.
the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

 
As the nation mourns yet another mass shooting at a military installation, we have to ask what will it take for this country to take the steps necessary to get guns out of the hands of our soldiers?  The list continues to grow: Fort Bragg, Fort Hood once before, Quantico Marine Base, the Washington Navy Yard, Naval Station Norfolk and once again Fort Hood this week.  Case after case of military personnel gaining access to weapons to kill innocent people--and our government does nothing to stop it.

There is no need to have the types of weapons used in these assaults even produced.  They are not for hunting or for sport shooting as the NRA claims.  And who could possibly need the high-capacity magazines produced for these weapons?

The next thing you're going to try to tell me is that this could have been avoided if everyone on the military base had been carrying a gun.  Like having every soldier armed is going to make an installation safer.  If anything, that will just lead to more gun violence, accidental shootings and deaths.

And let's not forget the culture of violence within the military.  The weapons training, the field exercises, the books and videos about killing and war--even computer simulations that do nothing but glorify the use of guns and "desenstize" people to the act of killing another.

Sure, all of these shooters (except for the original Fort Hood shooter, Nadal Hassan--who killed in the name of militant Islam) suffered from diagnosed mental health problems and probably should have been institutionalized.  But those people can't just be locked away.  That's "inhumane".  It's far better to have them walking around in society--where we need to trust them to be taking their medications and seeing their counselors to "work out those issues on their own".

So call or email your Congressperson or Senator right now.  Demand that they take immediate action to take away the weapons that these military personnel are using to kill.  Tell them to ignore the "powerful gun lobby in Washington" and to take the steps to make sure that this can never possibly happen again.

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