What if people judged gun owners the way
they judge Muslims?
What if all gunowners were judged by the actions
of a crazed, dangerous few?
Imagine how talk shows would respond to these stories,
all of which appeared in a single week:
A man is in critical condition after being shot Saturday morning at a convenience store in southwest Atlanta.
Five bystanders were shot during a wild gun fight that took place last night outside a Long Island bar.
An unidentified man in Kentucky shot and killed five people before turning the gun on himself after a domestic dispute on Saturday, Breathitt County Sheriff Ray Clemons told CNN
Minutes after a woman was suspended from her job at a Kraft Foods Inc. plant and was escorted out, she returned with a handgun and opened fire, killing two people and critically injuring a third before being taken into custody, police said.
Edgar Cooper said he was shocked to learn his 14-year-old daughter had been shot in the forehead while walking home from her first day of high school Tuesday.
A man was shot and seriously wounded last night inside a barbershop on Tremont Street in Roxbury, a relative of the victim and police said.
A man was shot and seriously wounded last night inside a barbershop on Tremont Street in Roxbury, a relative of the victim and police said.
A 45-year-old woman was shot in a drive-by shooting early Saturday in what police believe was an act of retaliation for a stabbing the night before.
A 16-year-old male was found suffering from gunshot wounds early Saturday morning in the 1100 block of Virginia Ave., according to a news release.
Kansas City police say Montra Johnson of Kansas City was found shot to death at the bus stop Thursday. His identity was released Saturday.
Investigators say 36-year-old Thomas London was found in the parking lot of the Majestic Nightclub on Cusseta Road 2 AM Saturday morning suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
DeSoto Parish sheriff's deputies say a man who refused to prosecute his father-in-law for a shooting five years ago has allegedly been shot by him again.
Two people were injured in a shooting Thursday afternoon near Hirsch High School on the city's South Side.
Authorities are investigating after one person was shot and killed this afternoon in Beltzhoover.
At the corner of 9th and Monroe streets, responding officers located a 28-year-old Wilmington man suffering from a single gunshot wound to his head. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene where he was then transported to the state's medical examiner's office.
Police detectives are looking for a suspect who they believe shot and killed a 54-year-old man on Friday night.
A home invasion Friday in Richmond left one man with a bullet wound to his leg.
A Crawfordsville man charged in the shooting death of his girlfriend's daughter might have been told to take a gun to the room where she and other kids were playing to scare them.
A Capitol Heights teenager who was shot Tuesday night died Wednesday, authorities said.
An 18-year-old woman was arrested this afternoon after she was accused of shooting a man while they were camping on Mount Lemmon, authorities said.
Two teenagers were shot just outside of Mumford High School in Detroit this afternoon on the first day of school
A 14-year-old boy was shot in the leg Friday evening while walking in the Pullman neighborhood on the South Side.
A Knoxville man is in critical condition after being shot in the neck late last night, city police said.
An Antioch man was shot dead during an argument near an East Oakland taco truck, and investigators are trying to determine whether he was killed with his own gun.
The triggerman behind the drive-by shooting that killed a 14-year-old boy and injured two others outside a Paterson bodega might have been seeking retribution for a fatal shooting earlier this week, police said today.
Authorities have identified the man shot while driving at Oakridge Drive and Mia Avenue on Friday, Sept. 10.
An Antioch man was shot dead during an argument near an East Oakland taco truck, and investigators are trying to determine whether he was killed with his own gun.
The triggerman behind the drive-by shooting that killed a 14-year-old boy and injured two others outside a Paterson bodega might have been seeking retribution for a fatal shooting earlier this week, police said today.
Authorities have identified the man shot while driving at Oakridge Drive and Mia Avenue on Friday, Sept. 10.
A teenager who was charged with manslaughter and had escaped from a mental health facility while awaiting a final resolution on the case was fatally shot Monday night in Mattapan, officials said yesterday.
Clarksville Police responded Friday night to Lincoln Homes, where a 14-year-old girl had been shot while inside a residence on Ford Street.
A Jackson delivery man who was shot on the job has died. It happened around 3:30 Friday afternoon at the Super Saver convenience store on Medgar Evers Boulevard near Palmyra Street.
Clarksville Police responded Friday night to Lincoln Homes, where a 14-year-old girl had been shot while inside a residence on Ford Street.
A Jackson delivery man who was shot on the job has died. It happened around 3:30 Friday afternoon at the Super Saver convenience store on Medgar Evers Boulevard near Palmyra Street.
A young boy and a 25-year-old man were shot and wounded on the city's West Side Friday night.
Police believe robbery was the motive behind the fatal shooting Tuesday afternoon of the co-owner of a DeKalb strip club.
Eva May Francis died after being shot while her home likely was being robbed, Gwinnett County police said Thursday.
A 25-year-old man was shot in the thigh Friday afternoon in north Stockton, and police were searching for the assailant.
An elderly man and his nephew were found shot dead at a neighborhood in southwest Atlanta, detectives said.
A renowned car racer and auto shop owner was discovered shot to death inside his El Monte business early Wednesday after he failed to return home the night before, investigators said.
A man was fatally shot inside a car in Hartford North End Friday morning, police said.
Atlanta officials said they are investigating a deadly shooting in which a father killed his own son.
Atlantic City police spokeswoman Sgt. Monica McMenamin tells The Press of Atlantic City that a man and woman were shot shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday while sitting on a porch at the Carver Hall apartment complex on Caspian Avenue.
Officials have released the name of the man who was shot to death Thursday evening while repairing a limousine in south Fort Worth.
Akeem R. Jones, 19, was found bleeding from a gunshot wound after shots were fired Friday inside a north Omaha house.
Akeem R. Jones, 19, was found bleeding from a gunshot wound after shots were fired Friday inside a north Omaha house.
Witnesses say a woman calmly walked up to Dominic Nicholas Mahone while he was dancing on the floor of an uptown Charlotte club early Friday, pulled out a gun and shot him twice.
A Marion County sheriff's spokesman says a woman was fatally shot Thursday at a northeast Salem mobile home park.
A Marion County sheriff's spokesman says a woman was fatally shot Thursday at a northeast Salem mobile home park.
A former University of Tennessee football player was home recovering Friday after being shot outside an East Knoxville apartment complex.
A 14-year old Highwood girl was fatally shot in her chest early Sunday in North Chicago, officials said.
It was a tragic end for a man who was trying to do a good deed. He broke up a fight and was then shot in north Harris County.
A North Carolina man has been shot to death in what police say was a robbery attempt.
Robbery may have been the motive for a fatal shooting in the parking lot of a Walmart Neighborhood Market grocery store on Beechnut.
On Tuesday evening at 1057pm, officers were called to 7007 Longview Road to investigate a shooting. Upon arrival, officers discovered a 29-year-old male dead in the parking lot of the Express Mart.
Ummm...Mike? That is how gun owners are judged....based on the irresponsible and/or illegal few who misuse guns.
ReplyDeleteWhy else would there be organizations dedicated to the end of private gun ownership? Why else would the media repeat their distortions and mischaracterizations?
Regards,
Dann
Then, of course, I would expect all those gunowners, understanding how unfair it is, to rally in defense of Islam.
ReplyDeleteWhat is really interesting...to me....is the two sides of two "coins".
ReplyDeleteOn the gun issue....
One side sees a relative few miscreants who should be held individually accountable for their actions. They recognize the "tool" for what it is.
The other side excuses the miscreants' actions [focusing on root causes, etc.] and instead blames an inanimate object.
In the War on Terror.....
One sides sees what we hope are a relative few miscreants and wants to hold them accountable for their actions. Again, they generally recognize the "tool" for what it is.
The other side excuses the actions of those miscreants focusing instead on irrelevancies.
It isn't a perfect analogy.....I've got some further thoughts that I've been meaning to post over at my places. But it is reasonably close, IMHO.
Regards,
Dann
Interesting, because you reveal what I think is the real split here: You say that those who look for reasons are "excusing" the actions of criminals. There's a difference between an excuse and an explanation, unless you live in a cosmos in which pure good opposes pure evil.
ReplyDeleteAs I noted in the blog, there was a woman who insisted that parents should teach their children to be responsible, and that schools should be able to serve junk food, with it being the parents' fault if the kids eat it. I say that kids aren't going to be responsible and therefore, you don't offer them junk food at times when their parents aren't around to supervise their choices.
I don't disagree with her that parents should teach their kids to be responsible. I just know it isn't going to happen. I train my dog not to steal my food, but I don't leave my plate on the coffee table if I leave the room for more than about 10 seconds.
I'm also not anti-gun, but I would support registering and licensing guns because there is overwhelming evidence that a certain number of people are incapable of handling them responsibly. Whether that is a character flaw or not doesn't interest me, nor am I suggesting that they not be held responsible. It's simply a fact.
And the notion that, because some Muslims performed a horrible act, there is something inherently evil in their religion and that all Muslims should be under suspicion defies both logic and experience. This is separate from the widely held opinion that some US policies make some people in the Middle East angry. Nor does that, in turn, mean that, when a small number of those angry people do something murderous, that they should not be held responsible for their actions.
I can explain why the dog steals my food. That doesn't mean I think it's an okay thing for her to do. And my having told her not to steal my food does not make it wise for me to leave it where she can reach it.
Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel.
It is an interesting reveal! That's why I mentioned it.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, even your dog as an analogy breaks down pretty quickly. Dogs are....dogs...and can't really be held to a human standard.
And of course, my analogy breaks down as well as there is no such thing as pure good vs. pure evil. Our courts are designed to not only punish for the crime, but also to assess the individual and see what can be done...if anything...to get them back on the straight and narrow.
And of course....Islam is not a gun.
Regards,
Dann
You wouldn't know it from some of the discourse the past couple of months. Not only is it a gun, it's a bomb, a machete, beating up old ladies, payday loans, dog fighting, and child pornography all rolled into one.
ReplyDeleteOsama bin Laden's most breathless hope was to ignite a war between America and all of Islam. If he is still alive, he must be positively orgasmic at how well America's made his dreams appear to have come true with the help of a willing media.
I just hope the "Dude, you have no Qu'ran" guy gets some airplay in the Muslim world. Allah knows it would help.
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ReplyDelete