The Washington Post
Marked with the names of the dead, the T-shirts hung in rows outside a Washington church Saturday, just as the tombstones stand in Arlington National Cemetery.
Only here, the 155 gunshot victims fell during more personal battles last year and — ranging in age from 3 to 73 — are now part of the war against gun violence in the United States.
In its second year, the “Memorial to the Lost” tribute to gunshot victims in the Washington region began a two-week stint outside Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church, with a bugler playing taps and a small group reading the names of those whose tragedies have largely been forgotten since they occurred in 2014.
From there, the memorial that asks passersby to pray for the victims will move to at least 13 other locations in Washington, Virginia and Maryland before it is taken down in the fall, said Lisa Delity, a chief organizer.
See that yellow tee shirt on the far left with the name Ray Savoy?
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm being too picky, but listing a murderer as a gun violence victim is maybe being too inclusive. Especially since there is likely a tee shirt with the name of the person he murdered nearby.
"Police say they believe Savoy shot Flowers, then turned the gun on himself. The two were a couple, lived together in the apartment and posted photos together on Facebook as recently as November.
"Awesome weekend in NYC with my LOVE BUG," Savoy posted, along with a collection of photos featuring Flowers, on Nov. 22. "
http://mydeathspace.com/article/2014/12/17/Ray_Savoy_(29)_shot_both_himself_and_his_girlfriend_Kristy_Flowers_(31)_in_a_murder_suicide
A murder-suicide counts, in my opinion, especially since the availability of a gun makes it more likely to succeed.
DeleteMike, in this case I partially agree with you in light that this display memorial is being put on by a church and I understand that many denominations consider suicide to be a sin, just as murder is.
DeleteHowever, it makes me personally uncomfortable in that any suggestion that someone who commits a murder gets any kind of victim status just because they chose suicide over arrest and prosecution.
A while back, Bloomberg's traveling circus was making unannounced appearances in various towns and reading the names of gun violence victims in public. And at one of those appearances, the name of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was read off as such a victim even though he was killed in a gunfight with police after the Boston Marathon bombing.
"As part of the event, participants read the names of more than 6,000 Americans killed with guns since the December massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. One of the names read June 13 in Concord was Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died in an exchange of gunfire with police days after the April 15 bombings."
And they immediately threw the incredibly prestigious publication, Slate.com under the bus they rode in on,
"The gun control group apologized and said it relied on a public list compiled by Slate.com, and that Tsarnaev's name was on the list.
"He was absolutely not a victim, his name should have been deleted before the list was provided to a family member for reading and his name should never have been read," the group said in a statement. "It was a mistake, it should not have happened and we sincerely apologize."
http://news.yahoo.com/tsarnaev-listed-gun-violence-victim-nh-rally-160805228.html;_ylt=A0LEV0bDlRVVR3AAHo5XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzdWF2ZjM5BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwM0BHZ0aWQDVklQMjgxXzEEc2VjA3Ny
I thought at one point we discussed it here, though I cant find it using your search function. I do recall that in light of their apology, I was quite willing to go with it being an honest mistake. However, your position that the a murder who commits suicide after their crime being deserving some kind of victim status concerns me.
I personally would be quite aghast at the possibility of for instance a similar display with the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting which included a tee shirt bearing the name of the one person involved who committed suicide after so many murders.
I hear ya, about the "victim status" thing, but I have a totally different view of it. In most cases those who commit murder are indeed victims themselves, victims of mental illness or abuse as children or drug addiction. The list goes on and on.
Delete. . . those who commit murder are indeed victims themselves, victims of . . . drug addiction.
DeleteThey are "victims" of their own bad decisions? So when a gun owner negligently shoots himself/herself (in what one could accurately describe as an accident), is that gun owner a "victim"?
Yeah, in some cases, sure. But being a victim of addiction, or stupidity, or anything else shouldn't be a bar to being disarmed when appropriate. In other words, people who unintentionally shoot themselves or others should be disarmed for life.
DeleteIf there were no guns, the vermin would be screaming for "proper sword control."
ReplyDeleteI didn't like this in Florida, and I don't like it in Texas either. I think there are legitimate concerns from the people who want this, but not everything should be handled by making a law.
ReplyDeleteDid you mean for this comment to go on this thread, TS? If so, I'm with you.
DeleteDavid Codrea has a much better idea. The Physician Liability Form, on which the physician describes his qualifications as a self-defense consultant, etc.
Indeed. Now I see where my post went.
Delete