It was a normal day at work. People streamed into the parking lot as they had done every Friday. This morning was to be different. The normal sound of cars rumbling and people talking was replaced by five loud explosions as the gun repeatedly fired. People looked around in confusion and concern. This was a parking lot where even fights were a scarcity, much less gun violence. But that morning it had all changed. That morning a man died.
That morning a friend of mine stepped out of the car she had been riding in to work. This same woman had spent the past year riding to work with me, so I knew her well. The twenty minute ride to work allowed me a lot of time to know who she was as a person. But that day I learned something new.
As she stepped out of the car, this petite, 5 ft. tall woman was confronted by her 240 lbs. former husband. He was still madly in love with her. He had always thought she belonged to him. To him, she was one of his possessions. This woman had lived too many years as a battered wife. After leaving him, she had been stalked despite many restraining orders. It had become evident the police or legal system could do nothing to stop him.
He walked toward her professing his love. He demanded she return to him. He threatened her if she didn't return. The woman reached into her purse and pulled out a .38 revolver. She fired 5 times, emptying the weapon before he stopped advancing toward the terrified woman. Her former husband died instantly on the spot.
She was tried for murder, but after only a few hours of deliberation, a jury found her not guilty on all charges. From that day until this one, she has never harmed another person. That day she acted in self defense because the system had failed her. I'm sure most of us have known someone who has or had a boyfriend or husband like this man.
I had another friend who, too often, came to work with her face covered in bruises. She made multiple excuses for the injuries, but everyone knew what had happened. She left him many times, but he would always be repentant. Each time she returned with the same results. It all changed the day she shot him. He didn't die, but the husband realized he had pushed her beyond the breaking point. He never bothered her again.
Recently, my home was robbed by two large men. They were emboldened and returned. The next time I met them with a gun. I learned that one of them was a neighbor. He was so frightened from being confronted by a gun that he moved away from town. Why would he move, you ask? Because I promised to hunt him down if the police didn't put him away. The police, as usual, did nothing. In fact, when they came after my call, they were more concerned that I had a gun than the robbery. You see, I'm not fancy rich folk. I am old and poor. I am the classic hermit, not their favorite people.
These are the people that progressive democrats seek to disarm. Criminals will never disarm because they have no regard for the law. Those armed criminals and bullies will be even more empowered. We have all seen bullies, whether it was at school, work, or at any place of recreation. Bullies don't usually carry weapons because they don't need them. They have the advantage of size and attitude. Most people aren't fighters. Most are like me who will avoid confrontation until backed into a corner. There are some who will not fight back even when backed into the proverbial corner.
To fight back, the smaller and often weaker person needs an equalizer. That has to be a weapon of some sort. Yes, there are tasers and pepper spray, but the disadvantage of those is distance. The only thing that can make an attacker stop in his or her tracks is a gun. Tasers and pepper spray doesn't create an aura of fear, but a gun will. Only a fool or the insane doesn't fear a gun. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the gun will not have to be fired in order to protect you from attack—sight of the weapon is often enough.
Progressives want to relieve you from the right to defend yourself. They tell you the police is your protection, but we know from experience that the police are the janitors of crime. They only come after the deed is done to clean up the mess, but mostly just make a written report as was the case in my experience. Progressives tell us the police are our protection while telling us not to trust police because they are killers. Progressives aren't driven by logic, only ideology.
The only way to end gun violence is to solve the root problems. Most gun crimes come from certain areas of the country in concentrated population pools. Find out why these individuals are prone to violence and you can lower gun violence. Of course, there are the insane who will occasionally kill people. Nothing can stop all crime, but we can find many solutions that doesn't including taking guns from law abiding citizens.
Gun Violence Reduction Executive Actions by President Obama:
1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.
3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.
4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.
7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.
8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.
10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.
11. Nominate an ATF director.
12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.
13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.
15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.
16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.
17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.
18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.
20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.
21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.
22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.
23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.
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