We should act: former top military officials tweet support for gun reform

[babylonsister]

“We should act”: former top military officials tweet support for gun reform
That adds to a growing veterans movement for changes to gun laws.
By Alex [e-mail]@vox.com Feb 22, 2018, 12:00pm EST


Two of America’s most respected former military leaders tweeted out their support for gun reform on Wednesday. Their voices added to a growing chorus of current and former military service members who want gun laws changed after a shooter killed 17 people at a Florida high school last week.

Retired Gen. Martin Dempsey, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and retired Adm. William McRaven — formerly the nation’s top special operations officer — backed the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Twitter.

“Our next generation of young Americans are calling for inclusion in finding solutions to keep our children safe,” Dempsey, former President Barack Obama’s top military adviser, tweeted on Wednesday. “I’m proud of them. They are right, they should be heard, we should listen, and we should act.”

About four hours later, McRaven put out his own statement on Twitter: “This is exactly what we need the youth of America to do: to stand strong, to stand together, to challenges the laws that have not served them well.”

Link to tweet

Those messages are a big deal. These former military officers, especially McRaven, know what it’s like to carry around an assault rifle and kill someone with it. They understand the awesome power and responsibility that comes with wielding a weapon of war. For them to speak out an amplify the message of Parkland’s students could lend more legitimacy to their activism.

more...

https://www.vox.com/2018/2/22/17039950/gun-control-laws-military-parkland-shooting

[roscoeroscoe]

1. This is good

General Dempsey is a solid leader and his voice will be helpful.

There's so many things wrong with military weapons being available without restriction like they are in the U.S. There are so many tragedies from people thinking their home was being broken into or whatever, shooting their own children. Shooting people who came to the door to use a phone. Children finding guns left around. Suicide. We've gone too far.

The doctor's article written after he dealt with the wounded from Parkland is a real eye-opener. These weapons don't belong among a civilian population. What are we, competing with Somalia? Iraq?