That Depends on What You Mean by "Children"
Handgun Control Incorporated and Bill Clinton claim, "guns
kill 13 children per day." That depends on how you define "children." The
following is an exact copy of material from Handgun Control Incorporated:
"1997 Firearm Deaths" (circle was added).
The
total for ages 1-19 is 4223, and division by 365 yields 11.6 "children"
per day-- if it is convenient to define 18- and 19-year olds as "children,"
which HCI does in its "Firearm Facts" publication: "In 1997, more than
11 children, ages 19 and under, were killed with guns everyday [sic]
in this country" (emphasis is mine). The law considers 18- and 19-year
olds full citizens who can vote, marry, enlist in the Armed Forces (and,
if male, register for the draft), sign contracts, and be held accountable
as adults for criminal actions. Perhaps HCI also doesn't think "children"
in the 18-19 age group should be allowed to vote. I urge said "children"
and "juveniles" to accommodate them, at least as far as HCI-supported candidates
are concerned.
Most deaths due to firearm misuse are, of course, undesirable
no matter what age group they affect. (I will not say "all," because the
death of a violent assailant at his victim's hands is highly desirable
if that is what it takes to make him stop.) Before you start worrying about
accidental shootings of your teenagers and young adult offspring,
remember that the 15-19 group includes criminals and gang members. Even
some in the 10-14 group belong to gangs. While gang members should not
have guns, HCI wants you to believe that your teenager is at high
risk from firearm misuse.
Bill Clinton: Was Monica "legal?"
To mention "lying" with "Bill Clinton" or "Handgun Control
Incorporated" in the same sentence is redundant. William Jefferson Clinton,
of course, picked up on the "13 children a day" figure quickly. HCI later
("Firearm Facts") defines "young people" as 10-24 years of age, and then
15-24 years of age. Monica Lewinsky was 22; what does this make Bill Clinton,
if you define a 24-year old as a "child?"
Arguments for Disarming Black People
"Firearm Facts" says, "In 1994, firearm homicide was the
leading cause of death for black males ages 15-34." (As a member of the
over-40 group, I wish 34 was a "youth.") The NAACP's
Kwesei Mfume makes the same
complaint in advocating a class-action lawsuit
against gun manufacturers: "Easily available handguns are being used to
turn many of our communities into war zones," said Mfume. "The fact that
the illegal trafficking of firearms disproportionately affects minority
communities in this country is indisputable. Urban communities have sadly
become so accustomed to the prevalence of firearms in their neighborhoods
that they are no longer shocked at the sound of gunfire." ..."According
to a 1998 National Vital Statistics Report, African American males between
the ages of 15-24 are almost five times more likely to be injured by firearms
than white males in the same age group. Black females in that category
are almost four times more likely to be injured by firearms than white
females. Firearm homicide has been the leading cause of death among young
African American males for nearly 30 years." Well, a fairly large organization
agrees with Mr. Mfume and Handgun Control Incorporated about the "problem"
of Black men with guns:
Mfume & HCI: Those Pointy White Hoods are not Pillowcases
These
are "sheet-heads," otherwise known as the Ku Klux Klan, and they say, "When
you look at the fact that at only 12% of the population, blacks account
for 64% of violent crime and they are expected to dramatically increase,
we can only assume that we are indeed in for far more serious and troubled
time then we can imagine." "Negro rappers such as IceT who gave us the
song 'Cop Killer' are elevated to hero status and the inner city dwellers
are all to eager to live up to the songs [sic] message."
From http://www.webnexus.com/users/pactive/library/racial.txt,
says, "An article in Virginia's official university law review called
for a "prohibitive tax...on the privilege" of selling handguns as a way
of disarming "the son of Ham", whose "cowardly practice of `toting' guns
has been one of the most fruitful sources of crime....Let a negro board
a railroad train with a quart of mean whiskey and a pistol in his grip
and the chances are that there will be a murder, or at least a row, before
he alights." [Comment, Carrying Concealed Weapons, 15 Va L. Reg.
391, 391-92 (1909); George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal, Vol.
2, No. 1, "Gun Control and Racism," Stefan Tahmassebi, 1991, p. 75]
Thus, many Southern States imposed high taxes or banned inexpensive
guns so as to price blacks and poor whites out of the gun market."
(And "smart gun" technology and licensing/registration fees also drive
up firearm costs, don't they?)
Speaking of sheet-heads and white supremacists... we've
really got to do something about "Saturday Night Specials,"
don't we? From http://www.webnexus.com/users/pactive/library/racial.txt
: the law was passed in Tennessee in 1870. "In the first legislative session
in which they gained control, white supremacists passed "An Act
to Preserve the Peace and Prevent Homicide," which banned the sale of all
handguns except the expensive "Army and Navy model handgun" which whites
already owned or could afford to buy, and blacks could not. ("Gun Control:
White Man's Law," William R. Tonso, Reason, December 1985) Upheld
in Andrews v. State, 50 Tenn. (3 Heisk.)165, 172 (1871) (GMU CR LJ, p.
74) ... As B. Bruce-Briggs has written in the Public Interest, `It is difficult
to escape the conclusion that the `Saturday Night Special' is emphasized
because it is cheap and being sold to a particular class of people. The
name is sufficient evidence -- the reference is to `niggertown Saturday
night.'" Yes, that's the complete term: "Negrotown
Saturday Night Specials," and "Negro" isn't the word
they used. It's nice to know where Handgun Control Incorporated stands
on "Negrotown Saturday Night Specials," isn't it? (Be safe: don't stand
too close to the burning cross, especially if you're wearing one of those
sheets.)
Handgun Control Incorporated and Kwesei Mfume: would
this help? The sheet-heads think it would.
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