It turns out that last year and again this year will go down as two very bloody and violent years. We don’t yet have official numbers from government sources like the FBI or the CDC, but our friends at the Gun Violence Archive estimate that gun deaths in 2020 increased by more than 25% from 2019, and the gun-death number for 2021 increased over the previous year again.
At the same time, what I find just as interesting is that the mainstream media doesn’t seem to be all that interested or even concerned with the degree to which Americans continue to blast each other apart. While the media reports this violence from time to time, it’s not as if my daily Google word search for phrases like ‘gun violence’ and ‘guns’ contains all that many alerts.
This past weekend, there were at least 12 people killed and wounded by gunfire in Chicago and another 10 gun victims in Atlanta. The local media carried stories about both events but neither made even a ripple on the national news. Twenty-two people killed and wounded in two cities over the weekend? No big deal.
There’s no question, at least in my mind, that gun violence has become much less important for the media under Joe than it was under Trump. Of course, this could change if, God forbid, some nut walked into a shopping mall or a movie theater with an AK or an AR and mowed down 30 or 40 people in one fell swoop.
But even if such an event were to happen, I suspect it would generate headlines for a couple of days and then gun violence would quickly disappear from the front page. We often refer to gun violence as an ‘epidemic,’ but to quote our dear friend Katherine Christoffel, gun violence really has become endemic to how we think and behave.
It wasn’t until the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook that folks concerned about gun violence began to think in organizational terms. Until then, when it came to guns, the grass roots was owned by the NRA. Then a woman who had a background in internet marketing but was at the time a stay-at-home Mom decided to put together an organizational challenge to the Fairfax boys. She put together a group called Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense and started getting the message out.
Shannon Watts worked tirelessly for a couple of years and what she got for her efforts was the beginnings of a national movement, some nasty and often profane messaging from the other side, and a complete emptying of her bank account.
Then, by the grace of God, she found herself becoming an important and financially supportable object of Mike Bloomberg’s largesse, and she now runs a national organization that rivals and probably exceeds the influence of the NRA.
Before Shannon and her gals (and some guys) came along, the NRA did a pretty good job promoting itself through various membership activities like sponsoring gun shows, holding weekend dinners and shooting events, and telling members to stand up for their 2nd-Amendment ‘rights.’
What impresses me most of all about the MOMS organization is that if you compare what they have coming up for membership events versus what the NRA is planning over the next couple of months, guess who has more events and activities coming up? Take a look at Shannon’s Facebook page and you’ll see what I mean.
In the pre-MOMS’ days, lots of folks would get all riled up when a bad shooting occurred, like the shootings at Aurora, Santa Isla, Virginia Tech, or Sandy Hook. But as horrendous as these events might be, what drives our gun violence rate to its stratospheric and endemic level are the run-of-the-mill shootings that occur in every state just about every day.
So, it’s all fine and well to call out the troops to go marching around when some bozo tries to see how many people he can kill one morning with his AR-15 or his Glock 17. But what you really need to fight back against Gun-nut Nation and their bizarrely-stupid ideas, is to get into the trenches, push every day a little bit here and there, and not worry about whether CNN gives you any time or space.
Want to see how dumb the pro-gun gang has become? Try this one on for size: Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org).
Here’s what makes Shannon Watts someone I admire and trust. She understands that dealing with gun violence is ultimately a one-on-one thing. You have to take the time and the trouble to sit down and talk honestly and directly to people who own guns. You also need to do the same thing with people who write the laws covering guns.
Know what? I’m going to send Shannon some extra bucks this month and you should send her some bucks as well. Got something better to do with your money?
Mar 08, 2022 @ 11:32:28
Wonder why the mainstream media doesn’t seem all that interested or even concerned? Could it be that the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform did an analysis summary of guns in the Washington D.C. area that showed 96 percent of victims and suspects in both homicides and non-fatal shootings were black? This is despite black residents comprise of only 46 percent of the overall population in the District. In the beloved town of Boston every homicide involving a gang-member was by a non-white individual.
Twenty-two people killed and wounded in two cities over the weekend. Last year 81 percent of the homicides in Atlanta were committed by blacks and 71 percent of the homicides in Chicago were committed by blacks. Look at the Cities and their leadership. You wonder why little attention is being paid to these events?
And talking about Mass shootings…According to demographic data compiled by researchers at Mass-Shootings.info, black men committed 73% of mass shootings in 2020, in contrast whites were only 13% of known culprits.
Do you really think that violence with guns really have become endemic to how we think and behave? Or could it possibly be who’s in charge?
I know many will call me a racist, but just look at the facts. As they say “everyone can have their own opinion but they can’t have their own facts.”
And for this stay-at-home Mom, could this internet marketing mom be something about making money? Look at her worth pre-Sandy Hook and now. Last time I looked, this Twitter Star mom worth was around $1.5 million. And all of her coming up events are doing lots of good in getting the mainstream media to report on all this crime when a gun is used. People keep paying money into these organizations and what progress have they made in reducing violence with guns? If there is anything people should admire about Shannon Watts is how she can make money.
Mar 08, 2022 @ 12:11:03
“I’m going to send Shannon some extra bucks this month and you should send her some bucks as well. Got something better to do with your money?”
I’m saving up to buy another Gun, but I’d be willing to send Shannon “The Anti Gun Gal” some Rocks to kick…..
Mar 09, 2022 @ 13:22:09
“Got something better to do with your money?”
Yes. Send donations to one of the international aid organizations for Ukraine.
NBC has a list of humanitarian oriented organizations to get us started.
https://www.today.com/news/news/5-verified-charities-working-help-ukrainians-invasion-rcna17590
Those who would prefer to donate to more lethal materiel are invited to do additional research for us. 😉
Mar 09, 2022 @ 16:57:08
Send your money to a woman who thinks you don’t have a right to protect yourself?
This is what makes it so hard to take a life member of the NRA and self proclaimed ‘gun nut’ seriously.
Mar 12, 2022 @ 15:38:26
When did Shannon Watts ever say that Americans can’t defend themselves? Just keep making stuff up. She advocates for such things as universal background checks. I guess by making things up you can make her seem unreasonable.
Mar 13, 2022 @ 12:08:04
It has been said it wasn’t until the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook that people who were concerned about violence with the use of a gun began to think in organizational terms. Maybe that’s a good thing. When I last looked there have been 15 states that have enacted statutes for “Permitless Carry” since 2012. Also, by the end of this year there could possibly be one or two more states added to that list.
Shannon Watts may not have ever said that “Americans can’t defend themselves,” I don’t know, but with all the money being sent to “gun control nation” they’re doing a great job in helping people to protect and defend themselves.
Mar 15, 2022 @ 17:47:52
Making stuff up?
Are all Gabors gun control shills that make stuff up?
Watts is a gun control hypocrite. She urged boycotting Starbucks because they allowed open carry of weapons in some of their stores. She also attends rallies and Gun Control events with bodyguards. So, she doesn’t want you to have a gun in Starbucks at the same time her armed bodyguard is carrying a gun.
Priceless.
Another lie is changing the narrative from Gun Control to Gun Safety.
The players and their goals remain the same.
Want To Go to The NRA Show? |
Mar 17, 2022 @ 09:52:23