Welcome to Common Gunsense

I hope this blog will provoke some thoughtful reflection about the issue of guns and gun violence. I am passionate about the issue and would love to change some misperceptions and the culture of gun violence in America by sharing with readers words, photos, videos and clips from articles to promote common sense about gun issues. Many of you will agree with me- some will not. I am only one person but one among many who think it's time to do something about this national problem. The views expressed by me in this blog do not represent any group with which I am associated but are rather my own personal opinions and thoughts.
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Sunday, December 25, 2011

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.
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.
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15 comments:

  1. jdegeDecember 27, 2011 at 10:33 AM

    "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."

    If they were harmless, they'd be useless. It's because they aren't harmless that it's so important that we ensure that people have access to them.

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  2. anthonyDecember 27, 2011 at 12:39 PM

    If you read the ND one about concealed weapons it seems to be talking about non permitted people from out of state.

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  3. japeteDecember 27, 2011 at 1:00 PM

    I didn't read it that way, Anthony.

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  4. Bryan StrawserDecember 27, 2011 at 2:13 PM

    From the ND Article:

    "Most violations are coming from people who recently moved here from out of state and don’t realize they should have weapons sitting in plain view in a vehicle, he said."

    B

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  5. japeteDecember 27, 2011 at 2:19 PM

    Right Bryan. I read that. Does that mean that these folks are permit holders from other states? It doesn't say.

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  6. anthonyDecember 27, 2011 at 7:39 PM

    I should add at the very least if they do have a CCW ND does not have reciprocity with that state. From poking around a bit ND seems to accept most neighboring states permit with the exception of MN but we do not honor theirs either.

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  7. japeteDecember 27, 2011 at 8:56 PM

    Did I forget this one? A seven year old boy was shot at a Christmas gathering- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/25/gary-boy-7-shot-in-the-he_n_1169636.html

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  8. anthonyDecember 27, 2011 at 9:46 PM

    If Monday counts you missed this one too
    http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-person-shot-in-the-face-at-grocery-store-on-citys-northwest-side-20111226,0,7669299.column

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  9. japeteDecember 27, 2011 at 10:25 PM

    Hard to tell how this would have turned out without the robber being shot.

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  10. anthonyDecember 27, 2011 at 10:39 PM

    You are right he might have donated the money to charity and reformed his life. Is there some good thing that could have happened when this apparent armed robber took the cashier to a office?

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  11. japeteDecember 28, 2011 at 7:00 AM

    Nothing good. Perhaps just a robbery.

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  12. AnonymousDecember 28, 2011 at 11:42 AM

    "Nothing good. Perhaps just a robbery."

    BUT, perhaps a murder. The assumption when a bad guy starts ordering people to the back is that they are not intending to leave witnesses.

    Where were the police? Let me answer that. They were WAITING for a call. That's what they do. No matter which way this went, they can NOT be there until it's OVER.

    Until you have an answer for that, I have no interest in disarming. Period.

    If everyone but the robber was unarmed, then ALL of the choices about whether the people lived or died would have been made by him.

    Perhaps you can live with that in the abstract, but in the real world, that is not the person I want making those decisions, without someone else being about to 'say no thanks' with equal force.

    Besides, being shot is the risk all robbers accept when they CHOOSE their profession and threaten innocent people with lethal force.

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  13. PatDecember 29, 2011 at 7:52 AM

    "Perhaps just a robbery."

    Really?

    Perhaps a rape, perhaps a murder, perhaps, perhaps perhaps...

    I carry to eliminate the possibility of a "perhaps".

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  14. japeteDecember 30, 2011 at 2:23 PM

    Another article about how the 3 year old who shot his 5 year old brother got the gun- http://www.9news.com/news/article/238460/188/Man-admits-to-mistake-after-3-year-old-shot-5-year-old " "I mean it was totally my fault," police say Adam Laham, 23, told detectives. "I'm not used to having kids in the house, you know. I always leave it out."" Don't leave your loaded guns out!

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  15. PatDecember 30, 2011 at 2:41 PM

    Adam Laham is criminally negligent - will he be prosecuted? If not, why?

    Protecting ones children is at the forefront for the vast majority of firearm owners.

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