Viva Zappa

Check out the crowd participation - it's truly phenomenal. (h/t Tripelkrauz)

Florida Boy Shoots Himself in the Head

CNN reports on the awful tragedy which took place in Florida when a 12-year-old boy found a loaded pistol in the closet of his parents.

A Florida boy remains in stable condition just days after he found his parents' long-forgotten handgun in a closet and accidentally shot himself in the head.

Sheriff's detectives in Pinellas County, Florida, near St. Petersburg, say the boy found the .25-caliber European semi-automatic handgun in a box in a closet in their home.

This terrible story is a perfect illustration of what we discussed yesterday. Gun availability is a major factor in many incidents of gun violence. In this case, I don't know why the police have ruled out suicide, if they have. It seems to me a bit strange that a 12-year-old would point a gun at his head and pull the trigger by accident. But, whether by accident or not, the point is clear: guns and kids don't mix.

The boy's mother explained that she had received the gun years ago and left it in a box inside the closet, never firing it. Is that normal behaviour? How many of the 50 million gun owners are like this? The passionate gun enthusiasts talk as if the entire body of approximately 50 million of them are responsible and practiced with their guns. What percentage is this negligent, I ask?

What's your opinion? Do you think people like this should be punished for their irresponsible gun storage? Or do you agree with this?

Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett says that although laws are needed, an accident with a firearm can be a greater penalty than any judge could ever hand down.

"Sometimes, the injury of a child is more severe from a punishment standpoint than any kind of criminal charge," he said.

Please feel free to leave a comment?

Kids and Guns

As proof that gun availability has a major impact on gun violence, I offer this:

















Taken from page 110 of Private Guns - Public Health by David Hemenway. He quotes the statistical source: Mortality data from CDC WISQARS 2003.

The chart above covers the statistics of children's deaths from firearms, the children being from age five to fourteen, the time period covered 1991 to 2000.

The States designated "high gun" are eleven with a total population of 28.5 million, as follows: Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, South Dakota, Arkansas, West Virginia, Alabama, Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota and Kentucky.

The States designated "low gun" are five with a total population of 26.2 million, as follows: Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Connecticut.

What's your opinion? Do you find the data compelling, as evidence that gun availability increases gun violence? Do you think all of it is negligible, given the tremendous proliferation of guns in America? If you think that, please remember, this chart only covers kids who died. There are also stats on babies under five, there are adult women and men, there are numerous less-than-fatal shootings, some of which leave people permanently disabled.

Please feel free to leave a comment.

Are We Ready to Reform Marijuana Laws?

According to NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) the country is ready for a change. Writing on the NORML Blog, Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director has this to say:

I believe, there is a palpable zeitgeist in America right now favoring reform; the Obama administration appears amenable to some cannabis law reforms in ways that no prior president since Jimmy Carter has embraced; and lastly, with NORML’s nearly 600,000 ‘friends’ on Facebook and nearly 67,000 MySpace, more Americans than ever before who are keen on cannabis can create a viral effect that benefits reform.

Here in Boulder between 10,000-15,000 students and activists are expected to celebrate in what has become the biggest 4/20 event in the world.

A New York Times article expresses agreement:

Long stigmatized as political poison, the marijuana movement has found new allies in prominent politicians, including Representatives Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Ron Paul, Republican of Texas, who co-wrote a bill last year to decrease federal penalties for possession and to give medical users new protections.

I agree wholeheartedly that penalizing marijuana possession and personal use is wrong. I absolutely favor legalization. Whatever expense would be involved in the transition could easily be recouped in taxes, probably in a very short time. The letterhead, envelopes and business cards of the ATF would all have to be reprinted, of course. Would it be ATMF or AMTF?

What's your opinion? Is there a moral question in legalizing pot? Do you think it sends the wrong message to kids? Might it not improve the message by separating marijuana from the other drugs which are sometimes more harmful?

Please leave a comment.

Happiness and Freedom

Missouri and Guns

What is it with the State of Missouri and guns? Some years ago legislators decided to make Missouri a "must issue" concealed carry state, which means anyone who is not a convicted felon "must" be issued a concealed carry permit upon request. Only Vermont is more lenient than that; there you don't even have to apply. The interesting part for me is that surveys and polls taken at the time, indicated the majority of Missourians were opposed. These changes happened in spite of majority opinion. As my gun-loving friends have pointed out to me, this is the difference between a Democracy and a Republic. According to them, Democracy is dangerous because you can't always trust the majority to know what's best. That's why we have a Republic.

Now, the Missouri legislation is being expanded to include university and college campuses. This is from KBIA news.

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (2009-04-09) Republican Representative Brian Munzlinger sponsored an amendment that would allow people to carry and conceal guns on college campuses around the state.

This latest change, which still needs to go before the Senate, besides going contrary to public opinion, is not without it's detractors among those involved. The Maneater reports that the Missouri Students Association Senate voted in clear opposition.

The resolution to oppose the amendment passed through the MSA Senate Wednesday night, with 14 in favor, 9 against and 2 abstaining.

The House bill provided an amendment for weapons on college campuses, which concerned MSA Senate Speaker Amanda Shelton.

"For weapons to be introduced into any environment where they were presumably not present before, quite a bit of exploratory work is warranted to ensure that the change will provide a net benefit to safety," Shelton said.

Shelton began doing research into large-scale campus and community shootings in order to find possible benefits of having concealed carry on campuses, she said. Her findings led her to co-sponsor legislation in opposition to the proposed amendment.

Among State legislators, there are opposition voices as well. Democratic Representative Chris Kelly explained his stance on guns being brought to fraternities, and dormitories around the state.

"College boys who round up 25 possums half drunk can do amazingly interesting things with fireworks, bottles of gasoline, with all kinds of interesting devices. Fraternity boys are a very inventive lot, let's make sure we give 'em guns to play with too."

Kelly believes that guns will be misused on college campuses, while Munzlinger believes that it will make campuses safer. The Missouri House adopted this amendment.

What's your opinion? Will college campuses in Missouri be safer or not? Do you think something is wrong with the representative government that doesn't represent the will of the majority of the people? On something like this, shouldn't a straight majority decide? Is it better for a more vocal and more powerful minority to make changes that affect everyone?

Please feel free to leave a comment.

Baltimore Gangs Active in Prison

WBAL.com from Baltimore reports on the real-life story of drug gang members operating from inside the prison. Sounds like The Wire, but is this a case of "life imitating art" or was the life scenario doing it first? We've talked about this before; it's not limited to the States.

Federal prosecutors said a drug gang known as the Black Guerrilla Family smuggled drugs, weapons, cell phones and luxuries such as champagne into Maryland prisons, where members continued to operate the drug ring.

The U.S. attorney's office announced indictments Thursday against 24 gang members and associates, including guards and other prison employees who helped smuggle contraband. All face conspiracy, drugs and weapons charges.

I would imagine it happens in both directions. The writers of The Sopranos and The Wire could have easily taken their ideas from the daily news, but the details in some cases could have been invented by them. It's fascinating to think that criminals might have learned some tricks-of-the-trade from films about criminals like themselves.

The most important thing is well expressed by the U.S. Attorney:

"It's not enough to catch bad guys. It's not enough to get them convicted and sent to prison. We need to make sure while they are in prison that they are isolated and not able to carry on their gang activities," said U.S. attorney Rod Rosenstein.

What's your opinion? Do you agree that sometimes "life imitates art" in the crime world? Would that make film makers irresponsible and somehow responsible? What do you think?

Please feel free to leave a comment.