blindndead
NES Member
I found this today any comments?
Thursday, December 28, 2006,
A whole lot of Americans think about guns the way Ralphie Parker does. Ralphie is the boy in Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story who is consumed with getting one thing for Christmas: "An official, Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air gun with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time."
In daydream sequences from the 1983 movie, 9-year-old Ralphie envisions himself using the Red Ryder rifle to protect his family from Black Bart's marauding gang.
Protection of self and others is a noble goal. The problem, as Ralphie's mother, teacher - and even Santa Claus - point out to Ralphie is that, "You'll shoot your eye out."
Guns are the power to prevent harm and the power to do harm, wrapped up in one package. While A Christmas Story was playing on countless TV sets on Christmas Eve, the dark side of Ralphie's wish was playing out at the Boynton Beach Mall.
There, in what police say probably was a gang-related encounter, Jesse Cesar got into a shoving match with Berno Charlemond. It escalated. There was shooting. Charlemond was killed. Then there was more shooting as police chased Cesar, who finally was cornered, arrested and charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder of a police officer.
The dead man, Charlemond, had been arrested a month ago for carrying a gun onto the mall property. Cesar, the alleged shooter, had been charged in August with attempted second-degree murder, but the charge was dropped. He also was arrested in 1999 on a burglary charge.
How do you keep people who don't have Ralphie's noble purpose from getting their hands on guns? At this point, with so many guns in circulation, you probably can't. Guns are everywhere. And even people who don't intend to do harm often end up doing so.
Last week, The Post ran a front-page story about two such cases. There was 19-year-old Amy Dargis of East Stuart who "found" a stolen pistol outside the apartment she shared with a felon and accidentally shot her 17-year-old sister in the neck, killing her.
Then there was 17-year-old Dustin Williams of Port St. Lucie, who allegedly stole a pistol from a Martin County sheriff's deputy and accidentally shot his 16-year-old best friend through the forehead, killing him.
You'd think that by this time everybody would know that "unloaded" guns often aren't. But apparently not. You'd think that gun owners would know to take extra steps to keep their firearms from being stolen. But apparently not.
There's almost no end to gun violence. People still kill each other in hunting accidents. Young children still find their daddy's guns and kill themselves or siblings. People still lose their temper and, in an act regretted as soon as it's done, settle the argument with a gun too readily at hand. And guns still make suicide a too easy choice for those in despair.
The Ralphies of the world, when they grow up, probably are wise enough to warn their own kid that he could shoot his eye out. They'd favor reasonable restrictions on gun sales and effective record-keeping to keep guns out of the hands of irresponsible hands.
But that reasonable approach has been trampled by the point of view that is, appropriately, identified with the leadership of the National Rifle Association.
So, in recent years, gun-rights groups have worked to prevent police from having access to sales records of pawned guns. They've tried to tell business owners they can't keep employees from bringing guns to work. They've worked to limit as much as possible background checks on gun buyers.
The extreme view on the other side - that guns should be banned - won't work. It only drives the Ralphies of the world into the NRA's arms. Because of ingrained attitudes, the NRA for a long time to come will find it easy to portray any restriction on gun sales or improvement in record-keeping as a government attempt to confiscate Ralphie's gun. But, over time, responsible proposals to improve law enforcement and gun safety can woo Ralphie away from the NRA. It can happen because America keeps shooting its eye out, and so much worse.
Thursday, December 28, 2006,
A whole lot of Americans think about guns the way Ralphie Parker does. Ralphie is the boy in Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story who is consumed with getting one thing for Christmas: "An official, Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot, range model air gun with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time."
In daydream sequences from the 1983 movie, 9-year-old Ralphie envisions himself using the Red Ryder rifle to protect his family from Black Bart's marauding gang.
Protection of self and others is a noble goal. The problem, as Ralphie's mother, teacher - and even Santa Claus - point out to Ralphie is that, "You'll shoot your eye out."
Guns are the power to prevent harm and the power to do harm, wrapped up in one package. While A Christmas Story was playing on countless TV sets on Christmas Eve, the dark side of Ralphie's wish was playing out at the Boynton Beach Mall.
There, in what police say probably was a gang-related encounter, Jesse Cesar got into a shoving match with Berno Charlemond. It escalated. There was shooting. Charlemond was killed. Then there was more shooting as police chased Cesar, who finally was cornered, arrested and charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder of a police officer.
The dead man, Charlemond, had been arrested a month ago for carrying a gun onto the mall property. Cesar, the alleged shooter, had been charged in August with attempted second-degree murder, but the charge was dropped. He also was arrested in 1999 on a burglary charge.
How do you keep people who don't have Ralphie's noble purpose from getting their hands on guns? At this point, with so many guns in circulation, you probably can't. Guns are everywhere. And even people who don't intend to do harm often end up doing so.
Last week, The Post ran a front-page story about two such cases. There was 19-year-old Amy Dargis of East Stuart who "found" a stolen pistol outside the apartment she shared with a felon and accidentally shot her 17-year-old sister in the neck, killing her.
Then there was 17-year-old Dustin Williams of Port St. Lucie, who allegedly stole a pistol from a Martin County sheriff's deputy and accidentally shot his 16-year-old best friend through the forehead, killing him.
You'd think that by this time everybody would know that "unloaded" guns often aren't. But apparently not. You'd think that gun owners would know to take extra steps to keep their firearms from being stolen. But apparently not.
There's almost no end to gun violence. People still kill each other in hunting accidents. Young children still find their daddy's guns and kill themselves or siblings. People still lose their temper and, in an act regretted as soon as it's done, settle the argument with a gun too readily at hand. And guns still make suicide a too easy choice for those in despair.
The Ralphies of the world, when they grow up, probably are wise enough to warn their own kid that he could shoot his eye out. They'd favor reasonable restrictions on gun sales and effective record-keeping to keep guns out of the hands of irresponsible hands.
But that reasonable approach has been trampled by the point of view that is, appropriately, identified with the leadership of the National Rifle Association.
So, in recent years, gun-rights groups have worked to prevent police from having access to sales records of pawned guns. They've tried to tell business owners they can't keep employees from bringing guns to work. They've worked to limit as much as possible background checks on gun buyers.
The extreme view on the other side - that guns should be banned - won't work. It only drives the Ralphies of the world into the NRA's arms. Because of ingrained attitudes, the NRA for a long time to come will find it easy to portray any restriction on gun sales or improvement in record-keeping as a government attempt to confiscate Ralphie's gun. But, over time, responsible proposals to improve law enforcement and gun safety can woo Ralphie away from the NRA. It can happen because America keeps shooting its eye out, and so much worse.
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He's just giving it right back to you, D!
