Posted on 10/24/2002 9:27:03 AM PDT by SauronOfMordor
WE ARE NOT KEEPING OUR CHILDREN SAFE, BUT THAT'S NOT NEWS
'YOUR CHILDREN ARE NOT SAFE."
Was the sniper referring to the fact that, in the United States, nine children are killed by guns every day, and that about 1 in 1,000 will be killed by guns before age 20?
Or that 103 Philadelphia children and youths were murdered last year, 90 percent of them by firearms? (In the state, there were 124 deaths by firearms; nationally, it was 3,365).
Or that in this city, 10 children younger than 5 are murdered each year?
That firearm deaths among children is almost 12-times higher in this country than in 25 other industrialized nations combined?
That every year more than 20,000 children and youths are killed or injured by firearms in the United States. (Philadelphia had 735 gunshot victims aged 12-24.)
That homicide is the leading cause of death in this city for youths 15-19 years old?
'Your children are not safe.'
Was the sniper referring to the fact that in 1997, close to 1 million children were victims of abuse and neglect, and 3 million were reported to state protective services as suspected victims?
Or that last year, 4,744 cases of child abuse and neglect were documented in the city?
Or that since 1990, the number of children in foster care increased by 35 percent? (In this city, about 7,500 children are in foster care. )
'Your children are not safe.'
Was the sniper referring to the fact that Pennsylvania ranks second among states in percentage of uninsured children?
That nearly a quarter of all 2-years-olds in the state are not fully immunized?
That every day in this country, 1,310 babies are born without health insurance?
Or that 1 in 139 children in this country will die before their first birthday?
Or that 11.6 million American children live below the poverty line? Or that about a third of Philadelphia's children are poor? 'Your children are not safe.'
Did the sniper mean that although the United States ranks first among 25 industrialized nations in military technology, gross domestic product, health technology and defense spending, we are last in protecting our children against gun violence, nearly last in infant mortality, 17th in low-birthweight births and 18th in income gap between rich and poor kids?
Is that what the sniper meant? In which case, who's the real sniper? *Sources: Children's Defense Fund; 2002 Safe and Sound Report Card; Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY).
People can argue any way they want about guns, pro or con. If some people wish to be victims, then that is their right, but they have no right to demand that all of us dictate that our lives are subject to the whims of criminals. And anyone who will not act in their own self-defense, yet expects others to come to their aid simply because it is "their job", hold a point of view that is, at best, morally bankrupt.
I urge everyone here to read Jeff's Snyder's excellent book "Nation of Cowards". This collection of essays goes far deeper than the mere "right to own guns", and cuts to the ethical quick of the ideas and philosophies that underly all of our inalienable rights. Once you have read this book, you will never view the "gun debate" or the "gun grabbers" in the same way ever again, nor for that matter, the actions of our government in it's utilitarian desire to strip us of our rights and liberties. The very concepts espoused by the utilitarian viewpoint are a total vote of no-confidence in We The People, and anathema to the very concept of indvidual freedom.
Click on the graphic or CLICK HERE to purchase this excellent treatise on the moral obligations and responsibilities that are part and parcel of being a free people. The price is only $15 a copy and the book is a very quick and worthwhile read. It also makes for a great birthday or Christmas gift. Please note that I have no affiliation with the publisher or author of this book. My only motivation here is to inform and empower those of us who still know, honor, cherish and seek to protect our human freedoms and dignity. Tell them FreeRepublic.com sent you!
For a sample, I have the main essay from which the book is titled on my website in PDF format HERE .
Fax: 215-854-5691
Mail: Box 7798, Philadelphia PA 19101
email: Views@phillynews.com
Gungrabber definition of a child: a crack dealer who has two priors for violent crime and is celebrating his 18th birthday tomorrow.
Already did that. A couple of weeks ago, they ran one of the first editorials blaming the NRA for the sniper. I wrote a letter blasting that tactic that was published, and was joined by many other folks.
Murderers are RATS, by and large. They fill our prisons.
Didn't you see their definition of children and youth, anyone up to 24 counts. So that should be amended to "has two priors for violent crime and is celebrating his 25th birthday tomorrow."
No. This is just a guess but I am thinking the sniper was more focused on killing people than on UN statistics.
On second thought, maybe he meant that whiney cowards with a political agenda would start using this incident to further their own selfish agendas. Yea, that's probably what he meant.
It's the smilin' fella on the left.
And how many of them will be anywhere but in nonwhite ghettos or barrios?
Ask yourself when was the last time anyone under 18 living on your street died of a gunshot wound. Then ask your neighbor that question if they start ranting about "child gun deaths." Because - unless you live in some minority ghetto - there probably hasn't been any such death on your street in the past 25 years, just as there hasn't been on mine in the 27 years I've lived here.
Commie "mainstream" newspapers try to skew the gun debate by trying to generalize risks from urban ghetto violence by and affecting nonwhites; while Jackboot Janet was in charge, the (in)Justice Dept. reported that black Americans committed homicide at EIGHT times the rate of European-Americans - and died of homicide at FIVE times the rate of European-Americans. It drives the tiny antigun lobby nuts when you publicize this in a letter to the editor; you should have seen their reaction when I did.
Scandals of antigun politicians - and facts about race and violent crime in U.S.!
A third of all children are killed before they're even born.
At its direction, foresaking his heritage and patrimony, this man turned from his culture and sought answers in Ideology and violent change. He was educated in the lefist schools, left without hope and became the leftist ideal: An Activist.
Like Ted K, the unibomber, found with Al Gore's book and vision in his hovel, this man and his stupid youthful accomplice will be found to have bought into the actist dream.
If his tools of choice had been explosives, the manufacture of them would have been the leftist lament. They will always place the blame outside the corrupt culture they have fostered.
This is a near-perfect example of how to project Socialist claptrap onto any crisis.
All the ills of the world (and most imaginary ones) stem from a lack of socialism, even though most historical economic data shows the exact opposite correlation.
The degree to which this bilge gets traction is the degree to which this nation is doomed.
I, for one, am not optimistic.
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