For my 1000th blog (yes, we've written that many!) I'd like to get on my soapbox. Our laptop is temporarily down so this blog probably won't have the pictures or corrected grammar so my apologies in advance. Anyway, I haven't been on my soapbox for awhile but the news lately gets my blood boiling (on many topics) and I can't keep quiet any longer. Do I expect you to agree with my opinion? No! But I hope to give you something to think about, something to challenge your way of thinking, prompting you to do your own research and form your own opinion.
A little background before I get step up on my platform.....I did not grow up around guns. In fact, they make me nervous. The last time I shot one I was deer hunting in MS. I flinched when I pulled the trigger, resulting in a not-the-perfect-clean-shot I had hoped for. It traumatized me and I may never gun hunt again. I'm not a conservative, gun toting gal that believes all law abiding citizens should carry guns. It's your prerogative.
That being said, I'm ready to launch in on my own beliefs on this gun control debate. You ready???? A few days ago there was a horrific bombing at the Boston marathon. It was later discovered that a bomb was created from a pressure cooker. To my knowledge, they have yet to put a background check on pressure cookers and they're blaming a PERSON not a cooking device for this tragedy. I feel it's the same with shooting tragedies. It's the PERSON that killed, not the gun. The gun can't do a thing without a PERSON pulling the trigger. Do I agree that there should be stricter background checks for potential gun owners? Sure but I don't think it'll help. What needs to be done is to do a reality check on the world around us.
There are too many hoops that people with mental illness need to jump through in order to get the help they need. Between teaching and working for a non-profit I've worked with my share of people that suffer from mental illness. As a teacher, I dealt with 2 sixth grade boys that had mental health issues. One of the boys made a knife at school with the intent to use it on me. After getting suspended at our school, he got expelled from his new school for bringing a gun. Another boy that I had in my class got violent and was always being removed from the class while I was pregnant with P. In both situations I was fully supported by my administrators. However, there were so many hoops to jump through that I don't know if one of the boys ever received the help he needed but the other boy did (thankfully). I propose less hoops for medical help instead of more hoops for gun owners. Too many people that deal with mental illness go untreated and then the rest of society has to pay the price.
Another area to look at is TV and video games. Before having kids, Rob and I decided that we wouldn't have video games in our house for many reasons. One reason I'm opposed to them is because of the violence. I don't profess to have much knowledge about today's video games but I've seen enough to know I don't approve of them. What makes it fun to win a game based on how many people you can (graphically) kill? I remember when Duck Hunt first came out for Nintendo and I thought it was so cool that I got to shoot at something. But I don't ever remember it being a graphic game. Video games sure have changed since I played them. What happened to jumping onto buildings, collecting things like on Mario Bros? In my opinion, that was a fun game and no obscene violence was needed.
I also believe the FCC needs to have stricter TV guidelines. I've mentioned to Rob on more than one occasion that I can't believe the violent commercials that are shown during the 'Family Hours' of TV. Recently, Rob, a friend and I were discussing TV because I'm so strict on what P watches. We were talking about how old westerns showed the gun fight but didn't show the gore. Today modern shows go into too much detail when showing violence or someone dying. It's not needed. We have imaginations. We know what happens so why show so much? Watching violence has proven to getting people's adrenaline going, which doesn't usually result in the safest choices. There is no need for kids to be exposed to that sort of TV at a young age. I believe that violence breeds violence and TV doesn't help.
Criminals will continue to posess guns no matter what laws are passed. Just like mentally ill people will still obtain guns and weapons from people that have jumped through the hoops to obtain them. A guy I dated committed suicide using a gun that was registered to his dad instead of receiving the help he had tried unsuccessfully to get. People have a way of getting what they want. So instead of just looking at gun control maybe it's time to look at all the pieces of the puzzle! Just my opinion. Take it or leave it!
No comments:
Post a Comment