Yoko Ono's Plea For Gun Control Expressed In One Image: John Lennon's Blood-Splattered Glasses

[kpete]

On the 44th anniversary (March 20) of her marriage to John Lennon, Yoko Ono tweeted this powerful photo of her late husband’s blood-splattered glasses, the ones he wore the night he was murdered

31,537 people are killed by guns in the USA every year. We are turning this beautiful country into a war zone.

Together, let’s bring back America, the green land of peace.

The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 33 years our son Sean and I still miss him.” Yoko Ono Lennon

In my world, I’m still giving peace a chance and Yoko Ono will always be a hero to me. Love is all you need…and a fearless commitment to confront and defuse the powers that be.

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/yoko_onos_plea_for_gun_control_expressed_in_one_image_john_lennons_blood_sp

[southernyankeebelle]

1. Powerful site of his bloody glasses. However, if Newtowns murdered children and teachers haven't

changed anything what do you think bloody glasses will do? Nothing sad to say, nothing. Show the pictures of the bloody children and teachers and that might just do it.

[HockeyMom]

3. Didn't the Mom of one victim want to do just that?

I did read that she had an open casket at her son's funeral. Maybe it was the media that didn't want to show it?

[mopinko]

10. we all know what happened when mamie till did that.

media ain't gonna get away with that again.

[NewJeffCT]

13. yes, the parents of one of the children

had an open casket so they could show how her son's body was ripped apart by the bullets (his hand was blown off, as was part of his jaw as he put his hand in front of his face in a vain attempt to shield himself.)

I don't think we've seen many open caskets/dead bodies since Vietnam, have we?

[southernyankeebelle]

14. I don't know I didn't hear that but I bet if people had to see the pictures that bill would be

signed so fast. Just like during the VN war when every night we saw what was going on in VN. Now we don't see that. It's like it is a clean war when in reality people are dying like flies. Truly sad.

[Ed Suspicious]

30. If I remember correctly that is exactly why GWB administration disallowed photos of caskets

returning home from Iraq. They know the impact that visual would make on the temperament for war in this country. Pictures are powerful.

[southernyankeebelle]

37. No that was his father GHB. He remembered the covered of the VN war. Believe me we

have gotten nothing of the war compared to VN, nothing. They act like we can't handle it and they know the young people would be out in the streets protesting the war all over again.

[HockeyMom]

47. having seen a bus driver shot in the face,

when I was 6 years old, I think most people, especially gun owners, are in denial and don't want to even think about what that looks like. I close my eyes almost 60 years later and I can still see him. It did not look like some TV show. Not at all.

[southernyankeebelle]

49. Exactly right. You remember almost 55 yrs later. Can you see if people actually saw

a picture of the children of Newtown how fast that bill would pass then.

[HockeyMom]

50. +a million

[AlbertCat]

33. if Newtowns murdered children and teachers haven't changed anything ....

But that's not true. MUCH has changed since then.

[southernyankeebelle]

38. They haven't passed in national bills yet. Killings are still going on.

[AlbertCat]

58. They haven't passed in national bills yet.

True. But you didn't say that. You said it hasn't changed things.

[southernyankeebelle]

59. true.

[myrna minx]

2. .

[Recursion]

4. He was killed by a licensed security guard with a revolver

What possible gun control legislation would have done anything about that?

[Botany]

5. How about a background check? Because when he went to buy the gun

he was deep into some sort of mental illness but still he was able to buy
a pistol and bullets.

[Recursion]

6. I had no idea he had attempted suicide, that's interesting

For some reason I had pictured him as a straight-laced Dan White type who was mad about Lennon comparing himself to Jesus.

[deutsey]

12. No, Chapman had all kinds of mental problems, apparently

If the official story is true, he really over-identified himself with Lennon's idealistic peace activist persona and felt betrayed. Chapman supposedly saw an article about the massive fortune Lennon had amassed and the life of luxury he lived and thought his idol was a big sell-out.

That's what his fixation on The Cather in the Rye was about...In Chapman's mind, Lennon was one of Holden Caufield's phonies.

There are other theories (like Chapman was a Manchurian candidate-style assassin for some shadowy intelligence apparatus), but the "phony" theory I think is the accepted mainstream narrative.

Only Chapman ultimately knows, I guess.

As Paul Krassner, the counterculture satirist, journalist, and friend of Lennon's, told me in an interview when I asked him what he thought was Chapman's motivation:

"Hypnotized Manchurian candidates and ultimate assholes can achieve the same goal, regardless of their motivation."

[thucythucy]

17. He had also been hospitalized

for mental illness, and had a history of alcohol and drug abuse.

His "license" to to be security guard was granted after he had received a whopping one week's worth of training.

When he bought his gun, the only license he needed to show was his driver's license. He got his hollow point bullets from a "friend"--and used them because, he said, they were more likely to be lethal.

He had a list of people he wanted to kill, which included George C. Scott and Johnny Carson. He killed Lennon because Lennon was the easiest to stalk, and also, he said, because Lennon was the most famous, and thus killing him would make him more famous than killing any of the others.

That's a part of our culture: all a man has to do is buy a gun, shoot someone famous, and he merits approximately as many hits on Google as the doctor who invented the polio vaccine.

And. evidently, all he had to do to buy the gun was produce the cash.

[CreekDog]

18. Wow, you really haven't read much about Mark David Chapman

but you sure posted as if you had.

[Recursion]

19. What I posted is true

So, yeah, I did post what I knew. I didn't know he had attempted suicide a few years before.

[progressoid]

20. And what about the other Million + victims?

Yoko isn't talking just about John.

[Recursion]

21. They were nearly all killed with revolvers and small handguns too

And that's the class of weapon we keep refusing to talk about.

[progressoid]

24. The point.

You're missing it.

[Recursion]

25. Then tell me the point

What I see is a heartbroken bereft person asking us to bring back peace in America. What I don't see from anyone is a suggestion of what that practically would mean.

[thucythucy]

27. Well, let's contrast two similar celebrity stalkings

in two countries, and see how they turned out.

In the USA, the killer of John Lennon was able to purchase a handgun producing only cash and a driver's license. He had a documented history of mental illness, for which he had been hospitalized at least once, had been fired from his job, had a history of alcohol and drug abuse, but was able quite easily to buy a gun, procure hollow point bullets, and then stalk and murder John Lennon.

In the United Kingdom, a similarly deranged individual decided to stalk and murder George Harrison. Despite state of the art security technology protecting his estate, this potential killer was able to gain access to Harrison's house, enter his bedroom, and attack the star as he slept.

The difference?

In the UK the stalker was unable to get access to a gun, let alone hollow point bullets. So he used a knife. Harrison was stabbled multiple times, but in the midst of the assault his wife was able to club the assailant (I think with a lamp) and save Harrison from being killed.

In Lennon's case, four bullet wounds were lethal.

In Harrison's case four stab wounds--though they punctured his chest and lungs--were not. Harrison died years later--of cancer.

The US and the UK are similar societies. Same language, same basic mass media, same obsession with video games, same problems with mental illness.

But in the one instance, the killer was quite easily able to procure a gun.

In the other he was not.

Does this perhaps help you see the point?

[snort]

29. ^THIS^

[KittyWampus]

31. I wish you'd post this as it's own thread.

[BrotherIvan]

34. ^^This!^^

[WillyT]

41. + 1,000,000,000 What You Said !!! - K & R !!!

THANK YOU !!!

[Paladin]

46. Bullseye. Many thanks. (nt)

[klook]

54. Irrefutable logic and facts

Thank you -- one of the best DU posts on gun violence yet. OP-worthy. Bookmarked.

[Hayabusa]

60. Amen

[Mojorabbit]

48. 60 percent suicides if the numbers are correct.

I so wish we had some good safety nets in this country like they have in Europe. No one should have to feel that that is their only way out. Life has so much to offer.

[shenmue]

7. !!!!

Lord have mercy.

[H2O Man]

8. Recommended.

Yoko is a wonderful human being.

[KatyMan]

11. She is. n/t

[marions ghost]

9. She puts it hopefully

I put it more negatively.

If we don't stop tolerating this, America has no chance of progress in any sphere.

[WillyT]

15. HUGE K & R !!!

[judesedit]

16. Amen

[Heidi]

22. Kick!

[adieu]

26. You can see how a pro-gun person thinks

They expect someone to produce a constitutionally legal legislation that would have changed the number of gun deaths from the 1 million-plus to zero.

No, that's not reality. Here's reality: if we had an AWB, then the number goes from that 1 million plus to maybe a hair shy of 1 million. If we had universal background check, the number then drops to below 900,000. If we also had better mental health services, then that number goes below 800,000. If we had smart guns that require biometric ID, the number might drop to 600,000. If we had 7 day cooling period before the gun is handed over, another 200,000 gun deaths could have been averted. If we required gun safes used at homes at all times, maybe another 100,000 would not have been accidentally shot playing with guns left on the countertop. If we...

See, that's how it has to be done. There's no single piece of magic legislation that can do all that and pass constitutional muster. And some may not make sense by itself. But when enough laws are passed that directly address the problems that people on the field see, we will reduce the number of people killed by guns.

[Hoyt]

28. Yes. Nothing has to, or can, be 100% effective. But all that is a start.

If we sit on our ass for another decade -- as the gun cultists pray we do -- there will be another 100 million guns floating around on the street. Then, the problem will be more difficult to deal with. Some folks are short-sighted, others are just trying to preserve their access to more guns.

[bobclark86]

36. But you're suggesting we go about it bass-ackwards...

Focus on the biggest things first.

Look at the massive number of deaths from automobile accidents in the 1930s compared to today. Things like 4-wheel brakes, safety glass and padded dashboards (oh, and not-sharp buttons, handles and other controls) came first — the biggest killers at the time. Later on, seat belts (and the necessary enforcement laws which followed), shock-absorbing bumpers, DWI laws and airbags more than halved the rates again. Now, we're paring the death rates back even more by banning cell phone/texting while driving, stability controls and more airbags.

That seems like a pretty darn good roadmap to me (hopefully accelerate it up a bit, though).

Universal background checks, cheap "Saturday Night Special" handguns ($150 Hi-Points and the like... we already ban the import of cheapo guns, so let's limit the local production), storage requirements, magazine limits to 15 or 10, decriminalizing marijuana (that war on drugs is working out really well for us, isn't it?) and harsh enforcement of existing laws would work best to start with — we can get those passed without the dog and pony show, and they would do more good than an AWB would ever do (the results of the last one are highly debatable, and I think Roe V. Wade turning 20 was more important to our declining murder rate). Use up political capital on those things first. THEN focus on an AWB or whatever else you want.

BTW, John Lennon's killer would have been stopped by strong UBCs and eliminating cheap handguns (his Charter Arms Bulldog was a prime example).

[adieu]

42. The order of my suggested pieces of legislation

has nothing to do with what I want to see enacted first. They were just issues that came to my head. I agree with you in that we should enact the most useful pieces of legislation first.

There are many different ways that people die due to guns. The most common ways should be attacked first with useful legislation. I have no problem with that.

[bobclark86]

43. OK, we're on the same page...

now if the party leadership would figure that out, we'd be all set. Build on successes, rather than throwing it away and ruining momentum with a broken ankle right out of the gate.

[SoCalDem]

32. Wow.. that's an image

Made me think of my best friend who for YEARS had an old answering machine that had the last message her son left before his fatal car accident. Her other son accidentally donated it to Goodwill when he found it in a box.. She still grieves the loss of it 9 years later.. Some would think it ghoulish of Yoko for keeping the bloody glasses, but anyone who had lost a loved one in such a sudden way understands..

[tiny elvis]

51. i think the photo is the same as her album cover from the 80s

with a track called No, No, No, No

[tiny elvis]

55. looked it up. i was truthy

yoko- my man

[Paladin]

35. K&R. Lennon's Death Changed My Position On Guns Forever. (nt)

[tiny elvis]

52. ronald reagan after lennon was shot:

"it's a tragedy, but it's no reason for gun control"

reagan after reagan was shot a few months later:

"___"

[defacto7]

39. Kick..... & R

[JNelson6563]

40. K&R

Powerful image.

[hotrod0808]

44. I saw these

at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and Museum when they had their Lennon/Ono exhibit. The were in an enclosed box with other possessions he had on him when he was shot. The were the last things displayed on the way out, and they were the last things I saw that day. It made a powerful impression, because all through the display you celebrate this man's life, yet you are reminded of his sudden and awful death. This is how you drive a point home about consequences of gun violence in this country.

[Nika]

45. Stop gun violence Kick!

[indepat]

53. More people killed by guns in American during the last one-third of a century

than Americans killed by enemy fire in all foreign wars: what a legacy, what a condensation of the fabric of our society for tis such a small price to pay for the privilege to carry heat, maybe concealed or open carry, including an assault weapon strapped to the hip. Were it not for the infinite joys of living in a right-wing soused society, its very low minimum wage, its prisons overflowing with non-violent drug offenders by reason of ludicrous drug laws, slews of for-profit prisons to cash in on this insanity, and the lack of universal health-care, surely such senseless carnage would be considered murderously barbaric.

[tavalon]

56. I sent this to Facebook with a one word comment

Imagine.

[Moostache]

57. Guns are only part of the problem...

What we really need is more people in power who ascribe to Lennon's ideals as laid out in "Imagine"...

=================================
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one
===================================

Rest in Peace John Lennon, your ideals live on in my heart and the hearts of my children as well.