Oh, WAIT!
SILLY ME!
Blake's not letting anyone off the hook here at all... it's just the vid at the top of the Day 701 post that made me think Blake was taking his weekend kickin'-up-his-feet-time early in the week instead of starting on Friday evening for this week!
You WILL have to engage your cerebrum, after all! Blake has inserted the topic of GUNS (mythbuster ducking here - myth does NOT like guns)...in the Day 701 post...
It appears that the content is an interview with a gun owner - who has stated she'd like to remain anonymous. More gravely, the content turns out not to just be random and general, about guns, either. This Day 701 post is going to bring the Tuscson January 8 2011 shootings to mind...
I personally do not like guns. I live in Canada where gun laws are much different than in the U.S.A. Here's a nifty link I just found that some readers might find interesting - an article:
Canada's Gun Laws For Americans
This article was updated recently on Jan 27th 2001.
I have to admit, I dislike guns so much that I rarely discuss the topic of guns... Consequently, I don't closely follow news stories even as big as the Tucson Shooting on January 8th 2011. In defense of this fact, when people try to rile me or change my mind about both the benefits of guns and how they believe I should follow such stories more closely, I answer,
"Is it not enough that I am looking into the deeper picture here...the social problem that causes PEOPLE to be dangerous while weilding weapons?" and a statement, "Even a kitchen butter knife is a dangerous, lethal weapon in the wrong hands."
There are very few details about the January 8th shooting that differ from other tragic shooting events and I choose to focus, not on the details of each event - those details are for forensics people and law enforcement authorities to deal with... The targets, of course, are unique to this incident, the casualties are, as well, but the "warning signs" and "preventable details" are similar to almost every act of violence that has occurred in North America over the past hundred years or so...
This is not to say that from my point of view, "I don't care" - it's just that I don't allow myself to get wrapped up in certain details and in actuality, I DO pay close attention to these current events - albeit from a focus that many people don't talk about... at THE ROOTS of the issues, as far as these can be determined.
In my gun-less home, I don't sit around planning to rally for or against gun laws or related things, I study sociological aspects of our society and I make up appropriate speeches for engaging people in discussions about how to agree to disagree, how to respect people even when they're from another culture or hold to a differing belief system, and I'm also learning how to enter verbal conflict in a way so as to make resolutions possible if both parties are willing to resolve issues. Communication is the focal point of all our relationships whether one to one citizens are conversing or one citizen to a government representative or even a group being heard by a government department...
Besides, I'm from Canada where the likes of an urban legend came true just a few years ago and a man was beheaded along a bus route that used to be my most travelled way from Alberta to Ontario and back again...
See: 2008 Beheading Incident on Canadian Greyhound Bus No Mere Urban Legend
There was no gun in that instance - and the reasons why the incident happened and a man perished in 2008 in Canada are much the same as why a shooter was allowed to shoot people, including bystanders and government officials on January 8 2011 in Tucson Arizona, U.S.A. - because someone slipped through a bunch of systems...and ALSO (I might get cyberHIT for this) because someone slipped through community systems and community failed to effectively communicate a danger in the community when it/a person who was questionable was in their midst...
Again, I hate guns...but what I hate more is all the focus on GUNS when it is the handler of weapons who is dangerous.
I very much appreciate the mind-set of the anonymous interviewee on the Day 701 post and feel that her answers give proof of a responsible gun owner. She purchased a weapon at an appropriate time whereby she had means, resources and teachers to show her how to handle the weapon safely and properly, how to shoot - and she obviously spent a great deal of time and focus on handling the weapon - making regular trips to the shooting range for proper practice.
If I was told by someone in authority that I MUST own and know how to use a gun - if it were a law or something, I would follow the interviewee's example but I would forever be nervous about owning a gun. Even if I am responsible with the weapon - someone who really wants a gun can break into almost any kind of locked compartment if they really have their minds set on such a thing. Additionally, the mind/person that is set on such a prize who would go to a lot of work to get it would be something to reckon with, no doubt.
I like Blake's parting words, "If these issues have not hit your state yet, it is just a matter of time until they do," however, I'm sure I have a different take on what these words are about...rather, where I would place the focus would be different than Blake suggests...
For me, I'd say, "these issues of bystander effect, apathy, public confusion and lack of public responsibility combined with ineffectual government responsibility to its citizens WILL get to your region if they are not already present in abundant supply...so watch for them rather than spending ALL your focus on guns..."
On this matter, I'm sure Blake and I will have to agree to disagree tho' I am not fully certain that I'm not judging what Blake's POV is to hastily...really, he's offered a bunch of information and I cannot be absolutely positive that he is "For" the responsible ownership of guns. I'll have to wait and see what comments Blake drops by to make regarding this post.
I will apologize now, not for my POV, but in the event that I assumed to know Blake's POV on this matter. I have offered by POV and put it up for discussion nonetheless...
The Day 701 post is associated with Wednesday January 19 2011.
P.S.
Once you've finished reading about the "Beheading Incident," take a deep breath and please offer up prayers to BOTH Tim McLean's family (R.I.P. Tim McLean) and the assailant, along with his family (it was an open and close case of mental illness gone out of control and the assailant suffers emotionally to this day over what he did).
Also - after all this seriousness, please enjoy the complementary vid, "Shout" - by the original artists, "Tears For Fears" ... The cover version mix was at the top of the Day 701 post on The 800 Days blog...
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