(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Of God and Guns [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-10 Politicians often talk of “God given Rights’,” including gun ownership. Having closely checked their Christian Holy Bible, there is not a single reference to guns in the entire document. Nor is there a reference to God granting any rights to Americans. That does not stop Republican politicians from uttering such audaciousness, nay stupidity, as they offer thoughts and prayers after each horrendous mass shooting. Yes, audaciously they have the temerity to speak for their God – and assure us that He (as that entity is certainly a male) is okay with indiscriminate killing of innocent people. That in obvious contravention of Exodus 29:13 (thou shalt not kill/murder). As the bodies pile up, we hear from Congressional representatives and we get nonsense as they abdicate their responsibilities. Consider Tim Burchette’s poignant comment immediately after three nine-year-old students and three adults were slaughtered in his state, “We’re not gonna fix it.” He went on to astutely note, “Criminal gonna be criminals.” He then opined about what his father told him about World War II. Unfortunately, comparing combat in the Pacific during WWII, to a grade-school shooting in America, has become a reality. As of 29 March, we had logged 74 people killed or injured by guns in American school shootings. The origin of those rights is loudly, but wrongfully, proclaimed. “Texas state Rep. Matt Schaefer established this beyond a doubt in a Twitter thread in the immediate aftermath of the West Texas shooting spree. He said that he wouldn’t use ‘the evil acts of a handful of people to diminish the God-given rights of my fellow Texans.’” Texas Senator Ted Cruz jumped in to support Schaefer’s argument. Then too, consider this statement. “Americans have the constitutional right to bear arms. Law-abiding gun owners should not be turned into criminals overnight for exercising their God-given right,” said Dr. Cassidy. (Sen R LA) The bill eliminates subjective standards that exist in federal law that have allowed ATF to reclassify firearms under the NFA (National Firearms Act), and guarantees that law-abiding gun owners will not have to register, destroy, or surrender their pistol brace. Lankford was joined by Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA).” Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee appropriately responded to the reprehensible Jim Jordan stating, "Yesterday, during the debate on guns, Representative Jordan and a few others on the Republican side said that the Second Amendment and the right to guns was a ‘God-given right.' I don't know anything in the Old Testament where God spoke to guns. I do know he spoke to Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments, and said nothing about AR-15s or guns, but did say ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill.' In the New Testament, I don't think Jesus said anything about guns or AR-15s but he did say ‘You shall beat your swords into ploughshares.'” All points well made. Then there are elected nitwits, such Barry Moore of Alabama, who want to make the AR-15 assault rifle, “The national gun of America.” Not enough dead victims for him, he stated, "Today I unveiled my bill to make the AR-15 the National Gun of America. We must send a message that we will meet every attack on any of our constitutional rights." (at least he didn’t say “God Given.”) According to the GOP, America must have the most mentally unstable population of any country on Earth. At least that is their go-to position after each incident. They may have a point, as those same people did vote for those troglodytes. That alone is indicative of mental infirmity (and certainly mental insecurity). Hint, no, American mental illness is commensurate with the other developed world countries — the difference is number of guns available. As I first drafted this on 29 March, there had been 130 mass shootings this year. There will likely be more by the time of publication and even more by the time you read it. In 2022 there were 647 mass shootings. There is no doubt that the U.S. leads the world in non-combat related mass shooting. No other country has more guns than people. It is estimated that there are 465 million guns owned by American civilians. Statistically, killings have increased with the number of guns in circulation. Clearly, if you believe the GOP messaging (and as echoed on Fox News), we are a nation of guns, fear and mental illness (a terrible combination). A most disturbing and sad fact, is that guns are now the leading cause of death for children and teenagers. No other industrialized country comes close by comparison. Tragically, guns now are responsible for more childhood deaths than accidents or illnesses such as cancer. Only recently have deaths by guns exceeded traffic accidents, which previously had been far in excess of all other means. That is certainly a lamentable commentary on American society, and one totally created of our own volition. While President Biden has called for an assault weapons ban, stopping sales is not enough. These weapons should be banned in their entirety – along with high-capacity magazines. Stop the nonsense of use of AR-15’s, AK-47’s or similar weapons for sporting or target shooting purposes. The only animal these weapons were designed to hunt was humans. They are rightfully described as weapons of war. There is no appropriate use for assault weapons in the civilian sector. As for hunting for food, because of their high-velocity rounds, their impact would destroy much of the meat. Recently, The Washington Post published an article that should be mandatory reading for everyone, but especially anyone who supports having these weapons of war in the hands of civilians. It graphically depicts (in animation) what these high-velocity bullets do to the human body and how they impact internal organs. This explains why the some of the bodies of children killed in the Uvalde, TX massacre could only be positively identified by DNA, as they were unrecognizable by their physical features. Note that these high-velocity bullets are also part of the reason that mass shootings are becoming more deadly. Probability of survival has been decreasing. This also applies to high-capacity magazines. These allow the assailant to shoot longer without changing magazines that might afford victims an opportunity to flee or attack. The genesis of widespread use of those bullets goes back to the early days of the Vietnam War, when the M-16 was first introduced to replace the much heavier M-14 rifle. The M-14 fired a 7.62 caliber bullet, which, like the weapon, was heavier. To reduce weight, but provide the soldier with more ammunition, the AR-15/M-16 fired .223 Remington rounds which were 5.56 caliber. The round was first introduced in 1957 but it was the Vietnam War, in 1964, when the U.S. military officially accepted the new weaponry. But there was concern about the ability of the smaller, lighter, round to have the knock-down power to take the enemy combatant out of play. The answer was to increase velocity with the intention of facilitating more damage to the human body. The operative word here is war. It was war, not hunting or target shooting, that precipitated these body-savaging developments. Notably, many, if not most, weapons of war are considered to be illegal. Fully-automatic weapons, like machineguns are illegal without a very special permit. Similarly, generally we do not allow civilians to own antitank, or antiaircraft weapons, mortars, tanks and artillery and there are prohibitions on most explosives. Returning from Vietnam, I had an enemy 60-mm mortar round that had been totally decommissioned (no explosives). That was confiscated from me even though at that point it was merely a chunk of metal, and one I thought might make a commemorative ashtray. There are many right-wing nuts who proclaim that such weapons are necessary to protect against a mythical, tyrannical government. Those conspiracy theories at total BS and fantasy for mental midgets who have no clue as to their assault-weapon’s capability, compared to an organized combined-arms force with integrated and sustainable, multi-domain, intelligence, communications, command and control structures, and overwhelming firepower (think Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Apache gunships with F-35’s on call, all with a strong logistical tail. Prominent in the gun-toting, weapon-loving caucus of the Republican Party is soon to be gramma-at-36, Lauran Boebert, (yes, the Party of family values) with photos for Christmas cards of her sons all with what appear to be assault rifles. When taken, the youngest son must be about 8 years old. No doubt a great model for his grade-school classmates. Even better is Tom Massie and his well-armed family. For Christmas, on his cards with other armed members of his family, he appears to be holding an M-60 Machinegun – just as Christ would want. There are a number of bills in various legislatures to ban sale of assault-style rifles. That is insufficient! We need to ban the weapons outright. That means a buyback program such as happened in Australia and New Zealand. It can be done. Yes, there will be some bad guys who still have the banned weapons. Therefore, the penalty for possession of such a weapon in commission of a crime would be an automatic sentence of life-without parole. Another problem that rightfully has been pointed out, is how do you identify what is, or is not, an assault rifle? Certainly problematic, as there are so many variations, some designed to skirt even existing laws and regulations. Regarding legal controversy, I propose a “Duck Rule.” That is, if looks like an assault-rifle, or has any semblance of being an assault-rifle, charge as if it is an assault-rifle. Uncharacteristically, err on the side that the weapon is assumed to be an assault-rifle until proven otherwise. For those who might think I’m preaching to the choir, or peeing into the wind, you are probably correct. So many people have been calling for an assault weapons ban, or decrying mass shootings. Still, to many politicians, especially those in the GOP, their lack of response has been deafening. This week we saw the epitome of hypocrisy as the case of the now famous Tennessee Three attracted world-wide attention. Silence not an option. There is a need to ban all weapons of war in the civilian sector – not just stopping future sales. As has been argued, and SCOTUS ignored, we do have “a well-regulated militia.” It is called the Department of Defense! They, and they alone, should control all weapons of war. Finally, no God didn’t give you those rights! They were written by men; men who could not have imagined the killing that would be unleashed in their name centuries later. Then, just as I was about to hit the “publish” button for this article, this morning, April 10th, from Louisville, KY we learned of another AR-15 attack by a young shooter expressing his “God -given rights” and killing at least four and wounding many other fellow bank employees. The number of casualties is made possible because of these assault weapons with large magazines. My earlier statement that the number of mass shootings would increase was a given and today marked 146 so far this year. Republican thoughts and prayers to follow. 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