Guns Don't Kill, Bullets Do...Our Culture Does

RestoreGore

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Tue Apr-17-07 11:00 AM
Original message

Guns Don't Kill, Bullets Do...Our Culture Does

Edited on Tue Apr-17-07 11:36 AM by RestoreGore

I am so saddened by the tragedy at Virginia Tech, and angry at a society that does nothing but glorify violence in everything it does then wonders why tragedies like this happen. Violence and the glorification of it is so ingrained in our society and we see it in everything from cartoons, to video games, to the general atmosphere in this country that pushes aside civil discussion in lieu of jumping to the violent knee jerk responses first. People in general don't talk anymore, it is about instantly throwing out insults, vulgarities, and punches. Being the strongest to many means being the most violent and our media does teach that to our kids and it needs to stop.

And of course, this war mentality we have been living under is not helping anything. But above all that, it is not the gun that kills, it is the bullets inside the gun. I then don't understand why the sale of bullets in this country cannot be more severely regulated in regards to selling them especially to those who have criminal records, and why we are not holding those accountable who sell bullets. I could walk into any Walmart or Kmart and buy boxes of bullets without any check whatsoever being done on me. So again, I could own one of every type of gun out here, but it would do me no good if I had no bullets to put in them.

This really is such a touchy issue that I try not to comment when tragedies like this happen because so many people are grieving and the last thing they want to hear is a bunch of people pontificatiing about it all especially politicians, but this is just so sad and senseless and does speak to a much more serious deeply rooted problem with our society. Which is why I get so sick of politicians on both sides of the aisle who always strut out after a tragedy like this looking to get their faces on TV to talk about how horrible they feel as they sit voting to continue an illegal war that is killing off our children and increasing a defense budget that does nothing to address the root causes of violence in this country, namely POVERTY. The hypocrisy of it all makes me sick. Perhaps if our "politicians" on both sides actually gave a damn about issues instead of only propping them up at election times we might actually get somewhere with real gun control in this country which to me starts with controlling and regulating the sale and importation of bullets.

My heart goes out to all of those parents and loved ones of those who were killed yesterday, and I think our lawmakers in general should be absolutely ashamed of themselves at how they have allowed this country to decline all for their own political sport. How many tragedies does it take to get effective results? Where is our security? It is so sad such tragedies have to occur before dialogue is started, and even after that they are forgotten much like Hurricane Katrina which in and of itself has spawned a violent crimewave in New Orleans that no one even reports on anymore. Our politicians have forgotten why and who they are there to serve. However, we have to begin not only with gun and bullet control laws but with the very way our culture in this country operates in regards to the pervasive violent mentality being fostered that is reaping financial benefits for those who make profit from tragedy. It is time they were held accountable for it along with those who take the guns in their hands and shoot them.