Such a sad state of affairs right now! Perhaps it is time to reconsider the 2 nd amendment - either reword it to reflect current weapons available or to get rid of it completely. Too bad we can’t hear what the founding fathers think of this country today🥴
America has a problem and I'm so tired of the 2A argument.
Also the fact our local representation, (Stefanik and Stec), have barely acknowledged this is concerning.
Stefanik issued a copy/paste 3 sentence comment pulled from Twitter and Stec has said nothing.
I did call to ask why Stec has been silent and was told he's very busy doing the people's work as they are in session. Really? I think it's more about the stance he's taken so the good old boys club keeps on endorsing him. Stefanik is a lost cause.
The elected officials who support the NRA want us living like it's the Wild West.
Children and innocents have spread their blood all across the nation due to the protection of the 2nd amendment, which most definitely needs to be reworded to fit current times.
So sick of the gun love taking priority over human life.
Mr. Doolittle, your search for the Monahan's justification neglected the rightwing glorification of guns. Look at Elise Stefanik or MTG and their ilk grinning while holding weapons designed to kill the most people in the shortest amount of time, with fatal consequences for children enclosed in classrooms.
It's cool! And even better, it's a "god given" right. Praise the lord and pass the ammunition. Encouraged and enthused by the like's of Elise Stefanik, Monahan didn't need any more justification than that to fire the fatal shot that killed one of god's children.
If you want to try to stop it, start by trying to shame it.
I couldn't agree more with your thoughtful response about this proliferation of gun violence that as you point out has hit our area. Each act of gun violence saddens me that as a country we can't do better to stop these killings. And buying more guns as recently stated in the NY Times is not the answer. Let's at least start with restricting the sales of assault weapons.
Amen. A “God given right”??? It’s is a constitutional right, with limitations, as Ken points out. Unfortunately, despite the clear headed rational for gun control our present day politics does not give that a chance. And while I do not relish generalizing, it is the Republican Party that stands firmly in the way.
Thank you for this column, Will. This needed saying. It needs to be said over and over until it sinks in to the minds of the grudging, angry parts of humanity who own the guns and who perpetuate the necessity of owning a gun philosophy. Guns are made to kill. That is their purpose. Owning one assumes that you are ready to kill with it.
The only guns that anyone in my family have ever owned have been BB guns. When I was a child, I loved toy guns. I had a BB gun as a pre-teen. But, the mantra I always heard from my family was, "Never point a gun at anyone. Not even a toy gun. You never know when it might be real." I heeded that lesson. One year after Christmas the Nuns at my elementary school told the children that they could bring their Christmas toys to school the week after Christmas to share play with other children. Some of the boys brought toy guns. Immediately they got the lecture from the nuns, 'Never point a gun at a person. You never know when it might be real." Some of the boys didn't listen and were playing cops and robbers on the playground. The nuns took the play guns away and gave another lecture. They gave them back to the boys at the end of the day with another lecture for all the kids about gun safety. They also gave examples from cowboy shows and cop shows on TV. "Don't they all teach to never shoot someone in the back? Never just wave a gun around with no idea where it might be pointing! Don't even think about shooting at or pulling a gun on someone who is unarmed. Be mindful that guns are not toys but that if you have toy guns you should treat them with the same respect that you would treat a real gun. Some real guns look like toys and children have been shot by accident."
In spite of all the lectures, I shot some birds with my BB gun when I was eleven years old. I was using the birds for target practice. I saw three birds up in tree branches and shot at them. I saw them fall. I was not shooting birds for dinner; it was for sport. But, when I ran to find the bodies I realized that one of the birds was not yet dead, but was bleeding and suffering. I felt great remorse. I saw the other birds bloodied and dead. I had seen my mother and grandmother kill chickens for dinner, but this was different. This was wanton death, simply from my cruelty and my pride at wanting to show what a great marksperson I was. I deduced that my actions were wrong, evil in fact. I felt great sadness. I never again even thought about shooting a gun, not even a BB gun, unless it was at a row of empty cans with a wide and high backdrop to catch any wayward BBs. I told my mother and I cried. We buried the birds and marked their graves.
There seems to be such a disconnect nowadays between guns and their purpose. Guns are made to kill. That is their purpose. How can we teach our society that life-blood is oozing from the end of the bullets shot from guns? This is not a game.
Hello Will, you write “A guy named Charlie Kirk, who runs a conservative advocacy organization called Turning Point USA, said recently, after a shooter killed three children and three adults at Christian Covenant School in Nashville, that gun rights are worth the price in blood.”
The Following is from www.newsweek.com/charlie-kirk-says-gun-deaths-worth-it-2nd-amendment-1793113 “Charlie Kirk, the conservative founder and president of Turning Point USA, said during an organizational event on Wednesday that gun deaths in exchange for the preservation of Second Amendment rights is part of America's reality.”
What is your source for Charlie Kirk comment? Or have you exercised a writer’s creative license?
I linked to a video of Kirk talking. There is no creative license. I was not quoting Kirk when I said that he said gun rights are worth the price in blood, I was paraphrasing. You will notice there are no quotation marks there. But immediately afterward, I do quote him (as does the Newsweek article): "I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational. Nobody talks like this. They live in a complete alternate universe."
There you have Kirk saying it's worth it to have gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That's pretty clear. It's worth deaths to get gun rights. Or, to paraphrase as I did, gun rights are worth the price in blood.
Agree 1,000 %!
Well said. Thanks.
your words need to reach the rest of the country
Bravo. Those justifying these acts are justifying evil itself. Heinous.
Can’t help but wonder what Monahan’s news diet consists of. Is he brainwashed into fear and paranoia by the rightwing media?
Such a sad state of affairs right now! Perhaps it is time to reconsider the 2 nd amendment - either reword it to reflect current weapons available or to get rid of it completely. Too bad we can’t hear what the founding fathers think of this country today🥴
I'm beginning to think they were jerks too....
No need to rewrite it. Just need to stop the relatively recent NRA interpretation of it. "Well regulated militia."
Amen.
America has a problem and I'm so tired of the 2A argument.
Also the fact our local representation, (Stefanik and Stec), have barely acknowledged this is concerning.
Stefanik issued a copy/paste 3 sentence comment pulled from Twitter and Stec has said nothing.
I did call to ask why Stec has been silent and was told he's very busy doing the people's work as they are in session. Really? I think it's more about the stance he's taken so the good old boys club keeps on endorsing him. Stefanik is a lost cause.
The elected officials who support the NRA want us living like it's the Wild West.
Children and innocents have spread their blood all across the nation due to the protection of the 2nd amendment, which most definitely needs to be reworded to fit current times.
So sick of the gun love taking priority over human life.
Great idea to call our legislators to inquire as to how they will address. If only to let them know we're out here.
“Stefanik is a lost cause”. Bingo! You hit the nail on the head.
Amen!
Mr. Doolittle, your search for the Monahan's justification neglected the rightwing glorification of guns. Look at Elise Stefanik or MTG and their ilk grinning while holding weapons designed to kill the most people in the shortest amount of time, with fatal consequences for children enclosed in classrooms.
It's cool! And even better, it's a "god given" right. Praise the lord and pass the ammunition. Encouraged and enthused by the like's of Elise Stefanik, Monahan didn't need any more justification than that to fire the fatal shot that killed one of god's children.
If you want to try to stop it, start by trying to shame it.
I couldn't agree more with your thoughtful response about this proliferation of gun violence that as you point out has hit our area. Each act of gun violence saddens me that as a country we can't do better to stop these killings. And buying more guns as recently stated in the NY Times is not the answer. Let's at least start with restricting the sales of assault weapons.
I don't care what argument someone posts.
What defence someone posts.
What reasons someone post.
If flood lights were turned on or not.
If they were speeding up the driveway or not.
One fact remains.
He shot her IN THE BACK.
Amen. A “God given right”??? It’s is a constitutional right, with limitations, as Ken points out. Unfortunately, despite the clear headed rational for gun control our present day politics does not give that a chance. And while I do not relish generalizing, it is the Republican Party that stands firmly in the way.
Carl, you have made your point that you cherish your killing machine more than your fellow humans. It is a fetish. It will never comfort you.
Excellent summary of how far astray we've gone. Sobering. Charlie Kirk is downright insane! What to do??
Monahan was/is a Stefanik donor. She is complicit.
Thank you for this column, Will. This needed saying. It needs to be said over and over until it sinks in to the minds of the grudging, angry parts of humanity who own the guns and who perpetuate the necessity of owning a gun philosophy. Guns are made to kill. That is their purpose. Owning one assumes that you are ready to kill with it.
The only guns that anyone in my family have ever owned have been BB guns. When I was a child, I loved toy guns. I had a BB gun as a pre-teen. But, the mantra I always heard from my family was, "Never point a gun at anyone. Not even a toy gun. You never know when it might be real." I heeded that lesson. One year after Christmas the Nuns at my elementary school told the children that they could bring their Christmas toys to school the week after Christmas to share play with other children. Some of the boys brought toy guns. Immediately they got the lecture from the nuns, 'Never point a gun at a person. You never know when it might be real." Some of the boys didn't listen and were playing cops and robbers on the playground. The nuns took the play guns away and gave another lecture. They gave them back to the boys at the end of the day with another lecture for all the kids about gun safety. They also gave examples from cowboy shows and cop shows on TV. "Don't they all teach to never shoot someone in the back? Never just wave a gun around with no idea where it might be pointing! Don't even think about shooting at or pulling a gun on someone who is unarmed. Be mindful that guns are not toys but that if you have toy guns you should treat them with the same respect that you would treat a real gun. Some real guns look like toys and children have been shot by accident."
In spite of all the lectures, I shot some birds with my BB gun when I was eleven years old. I was using the birds for target practice. I saw three birds up in tree branches and shot at them. I saw them fall. I was not shooting birds for dinner; it was for sport. But, when I ran to find the bodies I realized that one of the birds was not yet dead, but was bleeding and suffering. I felt great remorse. I saw the other birds bloodied and dead. I had seen my mother and grandmother kill chickens for dinner, but this was different. This was wanton death, simply from my cruelty and my pride at wanting to show what a great marksperson I was. I deduced that my actions were wrong, evil in fact. I felt great sadness. I never again even thought about shooting a gun, not even a BB gun, unless it was at a row of empty cans with a wide and high backdrop to catch any wayward BBs. I told my mother and I cried. We buried the birds and marked their graves.
There seems to be such a disconnect nowadays between guns and their purpose. Guns are made to kill. That is their purpose. How can we teach our society that life-blood is oozing from the end of the bullets shot from guns? This is not a game.
Hello Will, you write “A guy named Charlie Kirk, who runs a conservative advocacy organization called Turning Point USA, said recently, after a shooter killed three children and three adults at Christian Covenant School in Nashville, that gun rights are worth the price in blood.”
The Following is from www.newsweek.com/charlie-kirk-says-gun-deaths-worth-it-2nd-amendment-1793113 “Charlie Kirk, the conservative founder and president of Turning Point USA, said during an organizational event on Wednesday that gun deaths in exchange for the preservation of Second Amendment rights is part of America's reality.”
What is your source for Charlie Kirk comment? Or have you exercised a writer’s creative license?
I linked to a video of Kirk talking. There is no creative license. I was not quoting Kirk when I said that he said gun rights are worth the price in blood, I was paraphrasing. You will notice there are no quotation marks there. But immediately afterward, I do quote him (as does the Newsweek article): "I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational. Nobody talks like this. They live in a complete alternate universe."
There you have Kirk saying it's worth it to have gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That's pretty clear. It's worth deaths to get gun rights. Or, to paraphrase as I did, gun rights are worth the price in blood.