In my writings, seldom do I comment or address
anything political or religious since they are often sensitive
issues.
Hence, the recent asinine and insane killings in Las Vegas
ignited my ire...and possibly yours, also.
The
Opinion Page of The Hamilton Spectator's October 4th
issue, printed an
editorial
that appeared in The San Jose Mercury News
~ which I share with you. I am also aware that all details are often
omitted in press releases whether in newspapers, television,
reporting and newscasts.
What Trump Didn't
Say About Las Vegas
Is that the best you can do, Mr. President? Hours after the
nation's worst mass shooting in modern history, Donald Trump told
the nation, correctly, that the slaughter was “an act of pure
evil.” But then the president suggested there's nothing to be done
about mass murder on the home front by an American apparently
unafilliated with foreign terrorists.
Actually, the answers begin with toughening of the nation's gun
laws, starting with a reinstatement of the Assault Weapons Ban that
was on the books for just 10 years following a 1993 massacre in the
Bay Area. At 101 California Street in San Francisco, a man killed
eight people and wounded six before taking his own life. It drew
national attention, but by today's standards it's a common
occurrence. That's how numb we've become. Even Trump back in 2000
declared support for the ban. And in 2012 he backed President Barack
Obama's call for action following the killing of 20-first-graders and
six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School (in Connecticut).
That was before Trump declared himself a lover of the NRA
as he prepared to enter the presidential race.
Would reinstatement of the ban stop mass shootings? Of course
not. But the staggering number of deaths and injuries inflicted in
just minutes Sunday night reinforces the need to control
proliferation of rapid-fire weaponry.
In contrast to Trump's reaction, consider Obama's words hours
after the Orlando night club massacre 16 months ago. Obama called it
“a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their
hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or in a
house of worship, or a movie theatre, or in a nightclub. And we have
to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be. And to
actively do nothing is a decision as well.”
Sadly, Congress made a decision to do nothing.
And Obama's successor apparently has no inclination to do anything
either.
There is still much we still don't know about the shooter's
motives. But, please, spare the rhetoric that one shouldn't
politicize this horrific event. If we shy from politics, Congress
will never act, and there will soon be yet another mass shooting
record set
.
Late
Night Hosts Plead for Gun Control After Las Vegas Massacre
(appearing also in today's news...as a brief)
All the late-night TV shows started out on a serious note, Monday, as
the hosts addressed the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas, the deadliest
mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Trevor Noah and James Corden
were in disbelief over American Gun culture. Conan O'Brien was
devastated to realize how many times he's had to talk about mass
shootings. Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers urged
Congress to take action on gun control.
Jimmy
Fallon had Miley Cyrus and Adam Sandler
opened the show with Dido's “No Freedom”
“The
American Mental Health System is Broken”...
(writes Joe Carter, a Senior Editor at the Acton Institute and
Communications Specialist for the Ethics and Religious Liberty
Commission...and a College professor of Journalism)
...but this back-door approach under the guise of preventing crime is
not the way to fix it. It will only further stigmatize the mentally
ill, and prevent many from getting help. America's deepest problems
are not guns or mental illness. It's impossible to fix sin, evil and
cultural disorder by presidential decrees. Locking up every gun in
America won't make us safer.
The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering, but on Cain
and his offering, he did not look with favour. So Cain was very
angry and dejected. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you
angry? Why are you dejected? If you act rightly, you will be
accepted; but if not, sin lies in wait at the door: its urge is for
you, yet you can rule over it.
Cain said to his brother Abel,“Let us go out in the field.”
When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and
killed him.
That same offer stands before America today. However, just as with
Cain, we must rule over the darkness in our hearts. A safer,
healthier, more peaceful society is not borne of misguided
legislation, but deep respect for God's greatest creation: human
life.
“Canada
was built around a very simple premise.
A promise that you can work hard...and succeed...and build a
future for yourselves...
and for your children...and that future for them would be better
than the one you had!”
(Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau)
Merle
Baird-Kerr...written October 4, 2017
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