Monthly Archives: March 2014
The Madness of Guns
Where else but in the United States are people so passionate about guns?
It doesn’t matter how much death and destruction they have caused, the lunacy to acquire and possess firearms continues. And much as I love it, nowhere is this more apparent than in the (yes, sometimes silly) South where I live.
I heard this unbelievable but sadly true story on NPR the other day about a church in Kentucky that had found a novel way to draw crowds – they held, get this, a gun raffle! I know gun mania is bad but this is insane! Don’t believe me? Check this out –
Kentucky Southern Baptists Draw Crowds With Gun Giveaways
According to NPR, the raffle for 25 guns drew so many people that a long line of people wrapped itself around the building. The Kentucky Baptist Convention’s communication director, described this initiative as “outreach to rednecks“.
I. Kid. You. Not.
Kentucky is undoubtedly proud of it’s standing in the list of deadliest gun states (as in, the worst record of gun fatalities). It ranks #11, and even better, it ranks #5 for the states with the most permissive gun laws. These two might be related, you think?
I can just imagine the mighty religious Kentucky every-man citizen saying to his redneck buddy, “And, we’re damn proud of this honor, no two ways about it!”
Go ahead, check out this gruesome list – see where your state ranks.
Did I say crazy? Sure, that’s just my humble opinion. But here are some scary stats –
- As of 2009, the United States had a population of 307 million people.
- Based on production data from firearm manufacturers, there were roughly 300 million firearms owned by civilians in the United States as of 2010. Of these, about 100 million are handguns.
- People between the ages of 15 and 24 are most likely to be targeted by gun violence as opposed to other forms of violence.
- From 1976 to 2005, 77 percent of homicide victims ages 15-17 died from gun-related injuries. This age group was most at risk for gun violence during this time period. Can anyone actually claim that these kids deserved it??!
- Teens and young adults are more likely than persons of other ages to be murdered with a gun. Most violent gun crime, especially homicide, occurs in cities and urban communities.
Sick and scared yet?
Gun violence in schools from recent years has led to concerted efforts to change the laws and we can only hope that they meet with deserved success.
But the flip side of this progress is how hard the people in favor of “gun rights” are working for just the opposite outcome…all you have to do is mention the second amendment to get these folks up in arms, pun intended.
Want to know how all this plays out in the political arena? Just check this out. No surprises here! These are the total political contributions from 1990 to 2010 to federal political candidates for the respective causes to control guns. Or not.
The sheer magnitude of contributions for gun rights is remarkable and herein lies the key problem. Sadly, we’re looking at a very long road ahead to change this country.
Unfortunately, I can also state with an enormously high degree of confidence that the deep South, Kentucky included, will not be leading this charge in any way. Whatsoever. 😦
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Photo credits:
Gun show: By http://flickr.com/photos/glasgows/ (http://flickr.com/photos/glasgows/432945997/) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
More Bells!
During my recent trip to India, it was work, work, work all the way. Well, almost.
It’s up to us to ensure that life is balanced after all, so I deliberately carved time out for other activities. Therefore, all that work didn’t keep me from a wee, little bit of fun. Or some serious shopping. Or a couple of loud and impassioned political diatribes with friends and family (they’ll never invite those again!). Or the payment of some weighty debts.
Those debts are interesting, to say the least.
I have told you before, there’s this temple in Khar, Mumbai I feel like it’s come through for me more than once.
And it hasn’t really stopped coming through. At the end of the day, it’s really what you believe, isn’t it?
For being such a frequented destination for some in Bombay – there’s always a line of people waiting to enter – the temple itself is a very modest, peaceful dwelling adjoining a neighborhood park and an ode to Hanuman. It has no doors, just thousands of bells of all sizes hanging all over its ceiling and pillars, bells that have been contributed by (I assume) gratified devotees over the years.
The Hindu god, Hanuman is known for, among many other things, being the repository of incomparable strength and the one capable of liberating (mere mortals too) from dangers.
Well, my debts to this Hanuman had been piling up over several months, from earlier visits that I had paid to the temple, mostly from when I was a temporary resident and expat in Mumbai.
So much so that on the one free Saturday that I had in Mumbai recently, I set off to “my” temple again.
But before I got there, I had to make a crucial stop – to purchase the bells that I would deliver there, with much gratitude. Yes, that’s “bells“. In plural. Not one or two, but six of them in all. That’s right, six. One for each fulfilled wish made on behalf of important people in my life (uh, that includes one for moi).
And, here’s the most curious thing of all…I am not (by any means) a religious person. I’m really not. But I do like to pay my debts, real or imagined. Who doesn’t?
And in that moment, with the liberating feeling of having satisfied these past obligations of mine, I completely missed invoking any new wishes or desires at the temple.
Now, I’m rather glad that I restrained myself. No sense in getting too greedy so soon. There’s time enough for new aspirations to be gathered up for another visit. Isn’t there?
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The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 