The Daily Escape:
Lauterbrunnen, near Bern, Switzerland. Photo by Scott Hafer
Thought for today:
âThe right thing is usually not hard to do. And if it is, it’s still the right thing.â – Jason Hirschorn
Pam Keith is a Democratic candidate for Floridaâs 18th Congressional District. She was a Navy officer, and lawyer. She has a great take on what to do with guns in America. Here is a series of tweets by Pam:
(The Baker Act allows the holding of mentally-ill people against their will)
WTG Ms. Keith, all are good ideas! Outlawing âbump stocksâ should be added to this list, and it seems that the House is likely to do just that. Will we ever get the National Rifle Association (NRA) out of the business of dictating which gun legislation is, or isnât acceptable?
Assuming we want changes to our interpretation of the Second Amendment, we must force enough Republicans in Congress to listen, and act. We have control, if we choose to use it.
Or, we can accept the occasional mass slaughter as the âprice of freedomâ as Bill OâReilly says we must. The Second Amendment is neither inviolable, nor sacrosanct. We have built this edifice of carnage on the most willfully misinterpreted 27 words in the Constitution. Ms. Keithâs ideas could help save lives, without impacting the rights of responsible gun owners.
As the opening quote says, doing the right thing, even if it is hard to do, very hard, itâs still the right thing.
We could stand idly by, and accept that random, indiscriminate mass slaughter is our new normal.
Here is a musical interlude by the Wailinâ Jennys singing “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” from their soon-to-be released album, âFifteenâ, a series of covers. Here, they are covering Dolly Parton. They turn the tune into a reminder about resilience and hope in each new day. This is particularly appropriate given the Las Vegas mass murder.
They sing in perfect Ă cappella harmony. Inspiring and beautiful:
Those who read the Wrongologist in email can view the video here.
No chance for this idea. The NRA (per early reports) in now suggesting that the Las Vegas attack shows that we all need to pack heat. Ridiculous of course, but they (apparently) are will to trade a ban on the enabling devices that convert near assault weapons to full automatic (in terms of number of shots fired per minute) for a national law allowing concealed weapons.
Mexican standoff?
Terry: It is a standoff of sorts. But we are fighting against a tiny minority: WaPo reported that just 3% of Americans own 50% of the guns in America. While gun ownership is declining, the number of guns owned has skyrocketed.
So there are more guns in fewer hands. The top 3% of American adults own on average, 17 guns apiece, just like our Las Vegas shooter.!
Its clear that the concentration of 50% of guns are in the hands of a small fraction of Americans.
We are letting this minority and the NRA control the debate and the laws that regulate them.
But “we” are not debating. The congressmen who receive money from the NRA are not listening. Nor are the voters who vote against “liberals” who will take their guns away.
Maybe this will change now… but I would not bet a nickel on that.
@ Terry: This is only gonna change if more gun control politicians are elected. David Brooks in the NYT yesterday said that in 2000, only 29% of Americans supported more gun rights and 67% supported more gun control.
By 2016, 52% of Americans supported more gun rights and only 46% supported more control. And today, 40% of Americans own a gun.
Dems did a terrible job in the past 16 years trying to persuade Americans against gunz.