Billionaire New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was on Meet the Press this morning saying that he’s personally bankrolling a campaign to take on the National Rifle Association on gun control.
He and other big city mayors have noticed the link between illegal gun ownership and homocides. Since these crimes take place on their watch, Mayors Against Illegal Guns are stepping up to the plate to fight the powerful gun lobby.
Don’t even bother leaving comments telling me to shut up. I’ve had a gun pointed at my face by a man intent on killing me. He had an arsenal of handguns. I don’t have a sense of humor about this issue, and I’m not going to shut up.
Mayor Bloomberg claims that legal gun owners don’t commit murder.
I beg to disagree. George Sodini’s four guns were all legal. He had no criminal background. He killed three people and himself at an LA Fitness club in a Pittsburg suburb last week. He couldn’t get a woman to share his bed so he decided to kill a few of them to make sure he went down in history as a sexually frustrated lunatic.
The DC Sniper and many other shooting rampage killers start out at home with domestic violence. They tend to own an arsenal of guns ~ illegal and legal. Like Sodini, when their power and control issues at home are met with resistance, they literally take it out on the road.
While I don’t have scholarly research to support my hunch, I do have a huge stack of newspaper stories. There appears to be a very strong correlation between misogynistic, angry men and arsenals of guns and dead people. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that guns do give a person a sense of power and control.
Some men have guns because they hunt. This should give the women in their lives pause. I know they’ve grown up with this mind set. But, think about it. His favorite sport is killing something. It makes him feel good to bag something. . .more of a man I suppose. I didn’t realize how creepy this is until I saw that infamous photo of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin proudly kneeling beside the animal she’d murdered.
There are those who suggest citizens carry guns and become vigilantes to help fight crime. I hope they’ll stop and think a second about how many people at that LA Fitness center might be dead if there had been a shoot-out with Sodini.
The gun control lobby has been effectively taking out their opposition for decades. Mayor Bloomberg, however, is fairly invincible. He’s a independent with billions of his own money. And, he’s very popular with the people of New York City. We need to put an end to these shooting rampages. We need to end violence against women and children.
Yes, I know there are other weapons. Isaiaha Kalebu used arson and a knife. Vernetta Cockerham’s estranged husband Richard Ellerbee used a knife. But, everybody else in my stack of stories used a gun ~ most had a whole arsenal.
August 11, 2009 at 2:11 PM
I generally hesitate to say too much on this issue, however, seeing as you and I share the dark experience of having weapons pointed at our heads, I cannot resist.
A few things: First, I am so glad that your mayor is taking on this issue. It is important because NY is densely populated. It would be a ludicrous proposition for ANY American politician to hope to eradicate ALL guns, so it is wise of him to quantify his intent. Bottom line is that guns have been and always will be our Constitutional Right as Americans and regardless of how reckless some gun-owners are, unless our Constitution changes, THIS FACT (the right to bear arms) WILL NEVER CHANGE!
Second: I reacted to my own gun fears by learning all about proper weapon safety, shooting skills and, as a fierce young Alaskan woman, I honed my hunting and wilderness safety skills. I have had a few close bear encounters and always felt safer with a gun! Furthermore, for MOST people, hunting has very little to do with killing. It’s actually all about the preparation and the journey with its challenges and inherent dangers. Hunting is rather primal, and frankly, much like SEX in the sense that often, things get rather anti-climatic once you pull the trigger.
And so my friend, out of respect for the many people whose lives have been forever changed by gun violence, I commend your article and I commend your Mayor for taking a stance. On the same token, I believe very strongly in the second amendment and suspect that EDUCATION is the key to proper gun safety.
I know that my view is controversial, and think you should know that I attended last years’(September)NRA Banquet here in Alaska wearing a homemade t-shirt that proclaimed: “I’m a Pistol Packin’ Lipstick Wearin’ OBAMA Babe.”
Keep writing and keep questioning everything. You are so important to the process of being an American, a Woman, and a righteous blogger-babe. I heart ye Anne!
August 11, 2009 at 3:05 PM
Thank you for your thoughtful and respectful comments, DustyBee. Quite frankly, if I lived in Alaska, I think I’d probably want a gun for protection too. . .probably why I live in the lower 48. . .I’d probably have a coronary if I ever actually confronted a bear. =:0
The comment I quoted above intrigues me greatly. OK, my eyeballs almost fell out at the significance ~ especially given what this blog is all about ~ preventing violence against women and children. If you wouldn’t mind expanding on that thought, I think it might enlighten a whole lot of folks.
Are you saying, for example, that George Sodini ~ when he shot up that LA Fitness Center aerobics class ~ might have been getting the jollies he couldn’t get between the sheets by spraying bullets at the women??? Um. . .how do I say this G-rated? Is pulling the trigger on a gun a better thrill for a man than um. . .pulling the “trigger” in a lonely room?