My Memorial Day Tribute 2012

Memorial Day 2012

On Common Gunsense, japete wrote a beautiful Memorial Day tribute, with this conclusion:

Because I write a blog about gun violence prevention, I want to talk about America gun deaths as they compare to deaths of Americans because of war. More people have lost their lives to bullets on the streets and in the homes of American communities than American military members serving since the Viet Nam war:

Between 1955 and 1975, the Vietnam War killed over 58,000 American soldiers – less than the number of civilians killed with guns in the U.S. in an average two-year period.4

In the first seven years of the U.S.-Iraq War, over 4,400 American soldiers were killed. Almost as many civilians are killed with guns in the U.S., however, every seven weeks.5

Memorial Day 2012

On New Trajectory, Baldr wrote a touching piece about remembering our fallen military. His conclusion:

But let us remember, that although we rightly show concern for those who are dying (or surviving) in distant wars, we should also note that far, far more people are dying from gunfire here on our own soil.  People don't like to think about it that way.  They don't want to believe that our nation is warring against gun violence here.  But at 100,000 shootings a year in the U.S., we can't afford to cover our eyes and pretend that all is right.