Unsung heroes beg for gun control laws to protect others

18-year-old Kendrick Castillo

60-year-old Lori Gilbert Kaye was killed trying to protect her Rabbi when a gunman opened fire in a synagogue in California. The Rabbi survived. At the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 21-year-old Riley Howell lunged at the shooter taking three bullets that killed him. In Colorado, 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo attempted to stop a gunman to help others get away. He was killed. These are all recent and still being mourned.

The Washington Post feels that the fact these people...

"feel compelled to throw themselves into the line of fire puts to shame our so-called political leaders, who don’t even have the guts to pass sensible gun reform."

Don't you love it, "so-called political leaders," the cowards of Congress that have perpetually been afraid of the NRA and its head gun nut Wayne LaPierre for years while thousands of innocent people have lost their lives from gun violence. Here's an alarming figure that explains this problem...

"America has 4.4 percent of the world’s population, but almost half of the civilian-owned guns around the world"

WP makes a comparison with the New Zealand shooting where lawmakers jumped right in passing laws to prevent another similar gun massacre. Here in the U.S., urged on by the NRA, the public is led to believe that shootings, including mass gun violence, is commonplace and we just have to live with it. Well, that's bullshit! Especially with the demise of the NRA where Americans are demanding more information on gun ownership.

Just this past week a Michigan man went on a killing spree saying he was "on a mission to rid other women he knew of their 'demons.'" Law enforcement said, "I don’t think there’s any doubt that the suspect was on a killing spree." As usual, the question is where did he get the gun? With some 393 million guns on U. S. streets , that may once again be hard, near impossible, to answer. But the NRA's Wayne LaPierre will tell you, the more guns, the better.

And finally, an article from gun right exclaiming, "3 Ways To Make A Glock Gun Even Better," or interpreted, '3 Ways to kill more innocent people faster.' Those are solely my words but reflect an opinion that all the weapons industry is trying to do is make things easier for people to kill other people, especially in mass murders. Prove me wrong???

Please give me your comments on this issue.

New Zealand makes U.S. look like the idiots we are

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

The United States is controlled and powered by a gang of double-digit gun nuts, both in the American public and in the U.S Congress. New Zealand, on the other hand, sees the problems and source of gun violence and does something about it. Their parliament votes 119-1 to ban assault weapons. Don't know who the single hold-out was but you can probably bet he is a follower of the American NRA's Wayne LaPierre. Vox says...

"The swift action comes after last month’s mass shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in which a white supremacist killed 50 people."

And there you have the difference between a country (the USA) that values guns over the lives of innocent adults and children, and another country (New Zealand) that identifies their problem--guns--and does something about it. It is very hard to understand how this nation can stoop so low as to favor its weaponry over human lives, with the evidence of gun violence screaming at us daily. It is perhaps one of the sickest cultures of any country in the world.

The U.S. reaction to daily gun violence is a very tiring "thoughts and prayers" response which is regularly regurgitated from Washington and the National Rifle Assn. Both have come to realize what bullshit this is, and each is now at a loss of what to do. So, they do nothing. Here's how New Zealand handles guns...

"people first have to obtain a license to legally purchase, own, and possess a gun. That all typically takes months to get through. some types of firearms, like handguns and certain semiautomatic rifles, require “endorsements” from police and separate permits to purchase. The licenses have to be renewed every 10 years, and police can revoke a person’s license if that person is believed to no longer be fit for ownership and may pose a threat. Gun sellers are also licensed and regulated by police."

WOW! If the United States had this kind of control, how many lives would have been saved in the last several years? Homicides by firearm per 1 million people: New Zealand 1.6; United States 29.7. But on the other hand, Glock has just hired top gun nut Chuck Norris to promote its line of weaponry, which is certain to impress enough people to go out and buy even more guns. But, then, that is the American way, isn't it?