Shirley Chambers, a Chicago woman, had four children. As of today, she has zero. All four of her kids were shot and killed within an eighteen year span. Her only remaining child, her youngest?son, was laid to rest in February of 2013.
You may have never heard of this woman, for her name was not plastered all over the media; her story though, speaks to the ludicrous reality of gun violence that is crippling the streets of Chicago. To think that a woman could have all four of her children gunned down seems like something out of a Lifetime movie. Problem is, no one would believe this movie because it seems too horrific to be true.
Chambers’ oldest son was killed in 1995, her middle son and only daughter were both killed in 2000, and then the aforementioned youngest child was killed last year. With the recent comments of conservative “darling” Joe The Plumber, saying that people’s dead kids don’t trump his rights to own guns, stories like Shirley Chambers need to be told now more than ever. Our incredibly lenient gun laws have actual consequences; they aren’t just metaphorical pieces of paper. Although I find Joe’s comments repugnant in their lack of tact, he is somewhat accurate. While he is an idiot, and ?probably?a jerk, he can lawfully own a gun and no one is challenging that. However, there are way too many guns in this county, PERIOD.
There is no way the UCSB shooter should have had a gun. If people want to live in a country where every single lunatic, maniac, psycho, deranged, person has a fundamental right to own guns (and semi-automatic weapons as well) then they should admit that. But I believe ?most Americans?would see that as a scary thing.
It is not so much?specific policy that should be always discussed. The gun obsession some people have in this nation is just ridiculous. The?callous nature of Joe the Plumber’s comments, fits neatly with a shameful pattern where many Republicans?(and some Democrats) seem to value the love of guns over the love of our children. I don’t think that safety has to conflict with the basic right to own guns, but even if it’did, what would that mean?
There would be a ton of people who would look over the thousands of murdered children and teens and feel that owning guns and protecting the gun lobby is the number one priority. I am so glad that the father of one of the victims of the recent UCSB shooting took a stand and publicly condemned the NRA. Groups like the NRA have one goal: to sell guns.
I keep thinking that we should be the safest country in the world; if their theories were slightly accurate, we would not have the plethora of gun violence that we do. They keep brainwashing us to think that all we need to solve these problems is MORE guns. So what is enough? We already have hundreds of millions of guns circulating around our streets. Will we not be safe until we reach a billion?
Point is, the zealousness with which many even talk about guns, is scary. Misinterpretation of the 2nd Amendment aside, the safety and security of our people should be the number one priority, not protecting your guns.
Edited/Published by: SB
