Gun violence, primarily in the urban communities, has been the pulse of American papers for years. Guns have taken countless lives especially of young African American men. This must stop. All the talk during this election cycle about the Second Amendment has drawn debate from those on both sides of the political aisle. Omar Beasley, who ran to local office in Durham years ago, in his 7/24/16 op-ed stated, ” I see no reason that civilians need to own assault rifles.” However, they have slipped into our communities. All our communities. Banning them would do little to stop the violence, in fact it would embolden the criminal element who as we know have no respect for the rule of law. Pundits against the NRA and the like see this organization as madmen ready to “pop a cap” at everyone whereas they are just upholding their Second Amendment rights.
Our educational system has done little to get our youth to truly understand why the Second Amendment was placed in our Bill of Rights. Kudos to our great educators that have. To emphasize the importance, I bring up what the King of England ordered the colonists to do during the pre-Revolutionary War times - take their guns. Without guns the Red Coats would have had easy authority over the colonists. The patriots understood that tyranny must be attacked with force and liberty must be defended. After the Civil War and Reconstruction gun laws came about to limit the economic and political power of black primarily in South, many of which were in the Party of Lincoln as they faced intimidation from whites. Many blacks were turned away before they got to the polls from marauding whites and the KKK. And Hitler during his era raped the Jewish ghettos by also taking their guns when his Nazi forces came in.
Gun violence has been a part of America history from its inception. From the founding to the Civil War to the American advancement out west guns have been used to protect and to intimidate. The battles in the America west similarly to gang battles in some of our urban areas were over one thing - TURF. Instead of coming together and reconciling differences, neighborhood wars raged, and life lost too soon reigned. How can we end gun violence? I do not have all the answers, but I do have a few suggestions that might help.
1. All crimes with a gun have mandatory sentences with no parole.
2. Eliminate the drop out age in public schools. Give students more incentives to stay in school and offer programs that are not just college-prep but also vocational. Vocation education will allow more job growth in America instead of using cheap labor overseas. Give incentives to American corporations that build in America versus overseas.
3. Lengthen the time for gun permits to be processed to allow for more time to access background.
4. Hold parents more accountable for the delinquency brought forth by their children.
5. Improve K-12 education while removing ill performing teachers and administrators.
6. Place pressure on district attorneys, especially in urban and woke cities, to keep repeat offenders behind bars as well as stop the policy of no bail.
There is a big move on college campuses and in various other communities demanding gun bans and gun reform. Even in my state of North Carolina, college students from N.C. State and other colleges were rallying at the state legislature recently demanding change. The recent incidents at N.C. State as well as on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill involving an active shooter are alarming. Lives were lost.
Guns do not kill.
Guns do not kill.
Guns do not kill.
Place a gun on the table. Place a gun in a concealed box. Place a gun in the glove box in your car. Place a gun anywhere. That gun by itself will do no harm. However, when you place a gun in the hand of an evildoer, that same gun that caused no harm before becomes a lethal weapon that can do harm.
Firearms are weapons that are meant to be used to protect us from evildoers. That same gun can also be used by evildoers to do their bidding. What many progressives and gun controls activists miss is that when you take away people’s Second Amendment right, which is their right to bear arms, you enable evildoers to be victorious and you depower the populace. People have the right to defend themselves.
At Northern High School here in Durham, NC, a student was stabbed on the school grounds. Will progressives ban steak knives and butcher knives next?
Gun violence is horrible. Part of living in a free society such as ours is that we the people have the right to bear arms if we choose. Some nations like South Korea have low crime rates and low gun violence but their culture is different than ours. We can learn something from them. However, as I close, I leave you with this. During World War II when the Japanese Empire was at its peak and prior to this regime bombing Pearl Harbor, top officials in their military were asked why they did not just invade the United States mainland versus just attacking the naval base at Pearl Harbor.
Their response was along the lines that the American are well armed and that there are guns everywhere and we might be outmatched.
Guns are not bad. It is the evildoers that inflict harm with them that are the culprits that need to be punished and not American citizens that are protecting their own.