It seems that this column must address the latest gun deaths in Orlando, Florida particularly since I was in the sunshine State at the time.

June 10th brought news of the fatal shootings at a concert, perpetrated by a disgruntled (obsessed) fan of former Voice Contestant Christine Grimmie. While people across the nation were absorbing this pre-meditated murder another individual, unbeknownst to all during the day of June 11th, was preparing an all out assault on an LGBT club known as Pulse; a club I later read the killer had himself frequented at least a dozen times according to some observers.

Fifty dead, fifty-three injured, tens of thousands in shock. Will anything change? As the Australian Comedian Jeff Jefferies stated in his 2013 take on gun carnage (well before the thousand plus gun deaths that have occurred since), if the NRA wasn’t moved by the massacre in December 2012 of 20 children and 6 adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, why would they be moved to police themselves over the deaths of LGBTers?  An astute observation because any person or group that believes the 2nd Amendment of 1791 guarantees them the right to bear AK15s is just plain ignorant and probably incapable of reasoned thought on this topic. Here are excerpts from that routine:

“Now please understand that I understand that Australia and America are two vastly different cultures with different people. I get it. In Australia we had (Port Arthur) the biggest massacre on Earth and the Australian government went “that’s it, no more guns”. And we all went,“yeah, alright then, that seems fair enough really”.

Now, in America you had the Sandy Hook massacre, where tiny little children died, and your government went “maybe….we’ll get rid of the big guns”.  And 50 per cent of you went “F* you, don’t take my guns!”

You have guns because you like guns. That’s why you go to gun conventions, that’s why you read gun magazines. None of you give a shit about home security. None of you go to home security conventions, none of you read ‘Padlock Monthly’”

The result of the Australian 1996 massacre which killed 35 + and wounded 23, was the sweeping National Firearms Program Implementation Act, restricting private ownership of high capacity firearms: semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic shotguns, pump-action shotguns and introducing uniform firearms licensing rules.

I also feel privileged to have seen three well articulated and logical video posts in the aftermath of this massacre. One by a chap in London in front of the Admiral Duncan Pub, which itself is a well known gay establishment that was bombed 17 years ago (www.facebook.com/the guardian). The second was by a former CIA Agent, Amaryllis Fox, who righty explained that this violence, be it homophobic or terrorist, will never end until all sides put down their weapons and learn to listen, really listen, to each other (AJ + video: ciaundercover). Her examples of the answers each group gives as a reason for their violence against one another is extremely telling. The “we do it because they did it” mentality is circular reasoning to bring about Armageddon. [I confess here that I believe, and have often stated, that the extinction of the human race as we know it is inevitable].  Maybe Planet of the Apes was a foreshadowing movie?

The third video was of President Obama (Potus NewsHour of June 2, 2016) found on the PBS NewsHour Media Website. For all you Obama detractors and haters, this man is so well spoken in a calm and logical way: he is a pleasure to listen to regardless of your political leanings.

Unfortunately, all 3 speakers are preaching to the choir. As Obama said, and as we know, given the 372 mass shootings in the USA in 2015, gun owners don’t want to change. The NRA has a stranglehold on Congress and when people blame Obama for doing nothing and about gun control listen again to what he said. Until Congress, by majority, allows passage of stricter gun control laws, when people understand no one needs AK14s/15s and semi-automatic rifles and guns to “hunt”, mass shootings will continue. Mass shootings beget mass shootings.

Yet, what is the NRA response to this latest horror in America?  Well firstly, they postulate in a USA Today Op-Ed the usual, that “gun laws don’t deter terrorists”. But back in December (after Sandy Hook), the Bill to prevent known people on the terrorism watch list from purchasing firearms was defeated [45/54]; had that Bill passed, the gunman in Orlando would most likely not have been able to purchase the fire power he used in Orlando.

And guess what?  The NRA blames Obama for this mass shooting because the killer was allowed to avoid punishment for making “threatening comments about minorities” at his job. Wow!  So let’s recap: NRA is against gun control because the 2nd Amendment is sacrosanct, but the 1st Amendment is apparently irrelevant.

By the time you read this there will have been at least fifty+ more mass shootings in the USA since the June 11th tragedy, based on 2015 stats.

Australia figured it out, hell even China figured it out. America however, like Yemen, hasn’t figured it out. Maybe, instead of iPhones etc., kids should be buying flak jackets to wear at the mall, the movies and the clubs!

Me. Hammerschmid has practiced Family Law since 1982; Senior Partner at Hammerschmid & Associates; founding & current member of Family Law Association of Quebec (past Secretary for 28 years). Inquiries treated confidentially: 514-846-1013 or [email protected] © 2016 Linda Hammerschmid

Related Posts