Senator Marsha Blackburn alert: Assuming she knows how to read!

Question: Let's clear up the right wing hypocrisy:

If you protect lives (aka "pro-life"), then why do you not protect children from gun massacres and automatic weapons? Opinion echo letter published in the Chattanooga Times Free Press newspaper, in Tennessee.  

Pro-Life hypocrisy!

Tennessee's right wing Senator Marsha Blackburn should find some literate person to read for her the message in this constituent's letter to the editor:

Behold! It's the Greek icon "Medusa" doing a Senator Marsha Blackburn impersonation!

Dear Editor: I find myself puzzled by recent events and right wing "labels".

Why do Republicans call themselves "pro-life", falsely claiming they are committed to protecting the lives of unborn fetuses. Yet, those same people don't care enough about protecting children in schools from being massacred by demanding for changes to laws about how killers access automatic weapons. These crazy right wing extremists protest abortions, sometimes to the point of violence at clinics, yet will not  ban assault rifles or make it harder to obtain a gun. Oh yeah. I know — it's all about the Second Amendment.

But does anyone really believe that those 18th century authors, who wrote that amendment, had in mind what we live with now, because of the proliferation of guns? Guns kill innocent people. If it's important to you right wing extremists to protect unborn lives, then start agitating to protect children who are already here.  

Letter from Cathy Dreger in Chattanooga, TN 

Tsarnaev Brothers Had Access to Guns - Outgunned Their Pursuers

In a dramatic shootout caught on video tape, the Tsarnaev brothers, who are suspected terrorists in the killings at the April 15th Boston Marathon, appeared to have plenty of armament, including guns, to continue their heinous litany of carnage.

"A Boston Marathon bombing suspect was gunned down in a blazing firefight with cops while his armed and dangerous terrorist brother remained on the run early Friday, authorities said." Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/manhunt-boston-marathon-bomber-suspect-underway-article-1.1321605#ixzz2QwlNcw6K


"Doctors labored to save him (Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26) without success, the hospital (Beth Isreal) said in a news briefing. He had multiple gunshot wounds and what appeared to be blast injuries, said Dr. Richard Wolfe, chief of emergency medicine." The second suspect in Monday's marathon bombings, which left three dead and more than 170 injured, remained at large.


During the mayhem described in non-stop news coverage on practically every media outlet, not one pundit I've listened to (and especially not on Fox media or from conservative radio) asked how two terrorist brothers gained access to guns?

"The intense manhunt for suspect Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, of Cambridge, followed a night of terror that left a college police officer slain and a transit cop seriously injured." Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/manhunt-boston-marathon-bomber-suspect-underway-article-1.1321605#ixzz2Qws5KpGl

Somehow and somewhere, these brothers received access to guns.  In fact, they outgunned the law enforcement trying to intervene during Thursday's (April 18th) overnight carnage.

Murdered as a result of this killing spree are Sean Collier, 26, an MIT policeman, who is a victim  along with marathon dead, Lu Lingzi, 23, a Chinese student, Krystle Campbell, 29, of Medford MA and Martin Richard, 8, of Dorchester MA. Also killed in the Thursday night gunfight was one of the two terrorist suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26.

Unfortunately, we don't have a clue about why the Tsarnaev brothers turned violent and murdered innocent people in their terrorism spree. Nevertheless, it's certain that Sean Collier, 26 and the police officers injured in the subsequent Thursday night attack, as well as Tsarnaev, wouldn't be dead if those brothers didn't have guns.

Shame on those 45 Senators who voted against expanded gun purchase background checks. Their support could prevent further copy-cat terrorists from getting access to weapons, if regulations were tightened.  Americans should demand that the 45 Senators reconsider their misplaced submission to NRA (National Rifle Association) control and vote, again, to call for background checks.

All preventable deaths by gun violence should hold the National Rifle Association complicit in these and all preventable deaths, including the killing of MIT police officer Sean Collier and, yes, terrorist Tamerla Tsarnaev.  

Guns and Education - How Much Can Taxpayers Afford?

Tragedies like the horrific and preventable mass shootings at schools, particularly the Sandy Hook elementary children killings, have once again ruptured the scab off of the debate about gun control. Each unbelievable incident raises new circumstances to deal with because the perpetrators of these heinous crimes plot out bizarre scenarios, each one growing more incredulous than any previous. Where will it all end? 

Now, because of the growing litany of tragedies, gun zealots are saying the way to prevent these crimes is to give teachers guns. 

In my opinion, buying teachers guns so schools can be safe will improve the stock value of weapons manufacturers while putting the burden of caring for our children on the backs of property tax payers. It's a fiscally ludicrous solution to the problem of gun violence. It's like putting pressure on a hemorrhage, at some point, the cause of the bleeding must be remedied or the patient will die. Giving guns to teachers is an expensive idea and doesn't solve the problem of gun violence. As a matter of fact, who will pay for this gun zealot solution? Most of those who believe 2nd amendment rights are sacred also subscribe to conservative political views whereby they believe government is part of the problem rather than the solution to anything. 

Just check fiscal the realities of buying teachers guns.  

Schools can't afford their costs as it is:

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities- New School Year Brings More Cuts in State Funding for Schools

States have made steep cuts to education funding since the start of the recession and, in many states, those cuts deepened over the last year. Elementary and high schools are receiving less state funding in the 2012-13 school year than they did last year in 26 states, and in 35 states school funding now stands below 2008 levels — often far below.

If gun zealots think putting guns in the hands of teachers will solve the horrible problem of school shootings, than they are the ones who should foot this bill.  Otherwise, let's put an end to gun violence in a fiscally and morally responsible way by creating bans on private ownership of assault weapons and taxing ammunition so it becomes a luxury, except when used at a firing range.  

Putting more lethal weapons into the public domain to solve this problem will only create more expenses for communities to pay for, without fixing the root cause of the gun violence problem.

Moreover, teachers will become armed guards rather than mentors for our children.  Guns and education should not take precedence over the teacher-pupil relationship.  

But, if giving teachers guns is what the gun zealots want, then they are the people who should pay for this outrageous and unproven intervention.  

Guns and Garage/Yard Sales

An innocent community garage/yard sale brought out gun pickers over the weekend.

Our neighborhood advertised the sale on Craig's List, which is probably why gun shoppers found us.

Nonetheless, we were stunned when those among the curious shoppers were gun buyers!

"Any guns?" the buyers abruptly asked.  My husband, thankfully, is quick with this kind of query.  "We keep all the guns we need," he responded.  Clever man! That way, gun shoppers won't think we're  living in the Maine woods without artillery protection.  Sad, very sad, comment on our condition. We felt it was necessary to suggest there are guns in our house.

Gun shoppers have a distinctly proprietary perspective. The guns purchased at yard sales are even less regulated than those purchased at gun shows. No receipts!

I'm wondering how many guns the pickers were able to purchase as they trolled various garage/yard sales.  Probably many.  They also, quite likely, sell the guns shortly after purchasing them - making big profits, with no paper trail.

I'm so relieved nothing sold at our particular table in the neighborhood garage/yard sale will be used to kill either people or animals.

We'll never know if guns purchased by the gun pickers as they troll are put to nefarious or deadly use.

Maybe future garage sales should post "no guns" for those of us who are, frankly, offended by those who are using this neighborly activity to further a deadly project for profit.

Response sent to me via email from Gail in North Carolina:  "Had you not written the blog about people looking to buy guns at yard sales I would have never believed it. Is that actually legal in the state of Maine to sell a gun at a yard sale? ..."