No holiday from stupid and dangerous gun stuff

Every year in Minnesota there is a Christmas bird count. Sometimes in the winter time right around Christmas, different species of birds show up in Minnesota. This year was no exception. I saw a Red Bellied Woodpecker across the street from my son's home on Christmas Day. It's unusual call attracted my attention. I had never seen one before. It's quite a large and beautiful bird with it's red head- very Christmasy. I'd much rather do this kind of count than the one I will write about below.

Maybe we should have a gunshot victim count every Christmas. We could compare numbers and places where people were killed or injured. Only these are ( or were) human beings with families and not birds or animals. In the following reported stories, by my count, you will find 17 dead and 17 injured during the 2011 holiday week-end just past. And, by the way, these are just the ones I have discovered or were published in local media outlets. 80 people a day, on average, die in America from gunshot injuries. That is inexcusable.

• Sadly, 7 are dead in the Dallas, Texas area- all related to each other. Now try to imagine 7 people from the same family being shot to death. This murder/suicide was accomplished when a man ( allegedly related to the victims) came to the house dressed as Santa Clause. He then killed himself. There were 7 of us at our family Christmas gathering on Christmas Eve and 8 on Christmas Day. What is it with shooters dressed as Santa Clause? There is something so cynical about that. Remember this similar shooting in California in 2008? I do.
• And how could this be any worse? A California soldier made it home from Afghanistan, wounded and had just returned home for a welcome in his honor only to get involved in trying to stop an argument and gets shot. Now he is paralyzed. And he thought things were dangerous in Afghanistan!
• Another 9 were injured by bullets in a Chatanooga, Tennessee shooting.
• This Pennsylvania shooting resulted in one dead man. 
• And another in Cleveland. One man found dead of gunshot wounds.       . 
• And again with shootings at a courthouse as 3 were fatally injured outside of a Tyler, Texas courthouse. One of the victims was a concealed carry permit holder who tried to intervene but instead was killed by the shooter who then was killed by police in a shoot-out. 3 dead, 4 injured.
• Texas had a hard Christmas. This suicidal veteran in Fort Worth was gunned down by police as he threatened to shoot himself and then opened fire on the police. Senseless. One dead of gunshot wounds.
• And, of course, there are all of those gun permit holders who follow the laws, right? Wrong. Not in North Dakota, at least. Read this one for the many times permit holders have violated the law in North Dakota. No one was killed or injured- just gun owners gone awry.
• Here you can read about another stupid law abiding gun owner accidentally shooting a totally innocent teen ager on Christmas Eve day. 1 dead, 2 injured.
• And then again, on Christmas Eve, an Indiana boy was shot and critically wounded by shots fired from outside of the home. One dead child.
• One more- this time a Colorado 3 year old with a loaded gun killed his brother. Senseless. Another dead child.
• A shooting outside of a Fort Myers, Florida shopping mall took the life of one man. "Police say the shooter using an assault rifle to fire more than 50 rounds at his victim and somehow missed other innocent bystanders." One dead man. Sigh.
• Toddlers should be safe from bullets in their own homes. But not this 3 year old Minneapolis child who was gravely injured when a bullet flew into his house from somewhere outside. One gravely injured toddler. Senseless.

Please don't let anyone tell you, like the NRA and gun rights advocates, that guns for self defense are perfectly harmless. They are not. Many shootings result from those very guns. It is a sad commentary on the culture or our country. Common sense tells us that these shootings should not be happening in our communities. There are just plain too many victims. We can do better. We can pass sensible gun laws; we can talk more about safety of guns in the home; we can talk more about whether guns in the home and/or in public places make us all safer. The conversation needs to be serious and needs to occur. We have been avoiding it. Shame on us.