We have been to the farm for a few days with our kids and have returned to civilisation to the horrific news of the Newtown school tragedy. To be frank, I have avoided reading the details as I'm not sure my heart can take it. As a parent of three children, freshly on school holidays and pulling me this way and that with requests and busyness, this news stops me in my tracks; makes me re-appreciate the blessing they are to me this Christmas.
As I was reading through my emails this morning, one from Sarah Jane Studios struck a chord. Sarah has designed a downloadable card with 100% of the funds to go to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund which is set up with Newtown Savings Bank to support families of the victims and community needs. In some small way, purchase of this card may just help with the practical needs of those mourning the loss of precious children.
In Australia, gun ownership has been stringently controlled since the Port Arthur massacre of 1996. I am genuinely interested to know how the Newtown tragedy leaves our US friends feeling about the complex matter of gun laws and the right to bear arms.
Thank you for your post. I know what you mean about too much media overload. It has been so sad. I don't know how those poor families are going to go on. I hope to make some quilts somehow to help. I heard there is a pillowcase drive for kids. Comfort. Any comfort will help. Merry Christmas to you and yours. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, we are spending the winter in Florida, and around the pool, it is not the feeling of the Americans that they get rid of guns, but arm the teachers to prevent such a thing...being from Canada where less than 100 gun crimes a year is stats compared to over 300,000 gun related incidences occur yearly, the chances are 200 to one that gun deaths may occur. How many people do you know that own an arsenal of guns? Scary stuff to read for sure. We need good news, not this.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a country with gun control and have always been firmly in favor of it. Moved to the US more than 30 years ago and was surprised how different things are here. Every time something like this happens, there is talk of the need for change and nothing ever happens. I talked to an Australian colleague of my husband's at a dinner about what you describe (the stringent control of gun ownership) at a dinner a few years ago and was wondering if something like that would work here. No, it wouldn't. I do have to admit, though, that most gun owners are responsible and in most places there is a waiting period while a person is checked out. This young man had access to guns in his home (they were his mother's), the last gunman in the news stole his. And even if there was a law controlling gun ownership, what about all the gang bangers in places like Oakland, Richmond etc. etc. - there's no way they would give up their guns. Having said all this, though, I also have to say that I am still very much in favor of gun control, I just don't see it happening in this country.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting to read your comments. I think the bigger problem is why all these men are so hopeless. We have a much bigger moral problem in this country. The news has reported that this young man was autistic and his mother had been trying to figure out how to have him institutionalized. We just don't seem to have good programs to help people who are in these desperate situations.
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