Shot through the heart: Why guns need to go
The Washington DC Navy Yard massacre just happened. And what are the chances of
something like that happening in America again? And again and again and again? Really good.
According to the CDC and Google, the fifth most frequent cause of death in America is "unintentional injuries" -- including those inflicted by guns. The tenth most frequent cause of death in America is suicide, including those involving guns. And the 16th most frequent cause of death in America is homicide, including a whole lot of murder-by-gun. And even though NRA lobbyists now work night and day to keep the CDC from collecting statistics on the actual number of Americans shot and/or killed by guns every year, those numbers are probably right up there with the number of Americans who are killed by cancer and heart disease each year http://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-nra-kills-gun-violence-research-2013-1.
According to the CDC and Google, the fifth most frequent cause of death in America is "unintentional injuries" -- including those inflicted by guns. The tenth most frequent cause of death in America is suicide, including those involving guns. And the 16th most frequent cause of death in America is homicide, including a whole lot of murder-by-gun. And even though NRA lobbyists now work night and day to keep the CDC from collecting statistics on the actual number of Americans shot and/or killed by guns every year, those numbers are probably right up there with the number of Americans who are killed by cancer and heart disease each year http://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-nra-kills-gun-violence-research-2013-1.
But even though, thanks to the NRA, we don't have access to the exact
statistics on deaths by gunshot, there's still a really good chance that
you and me could also be killed by a gun -- one in 24,974 (and that
doesn't even include death by accidental gunshot injuries or gunshot
suicides) http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/02/daily-chart-7?fsrc=scn/tw/te/dc/dangerofdeath.
There are definitely a lot better odds in favor of us getting killed by our fellow Americans than by terrorists (one in 20 million are the odds of us getting killed by a terrorist). Look what happened at the Navy Yard for instance. Apparently Aaron Alexis was NOT a terrorist, just another fellow-American with guns having a bad day http://www.timesreporter.com/features/x1837085526/Police-responding-to-reported-shooter-at-Navy-Yard.
Based on even the vague statistics now available, the chances of something like the Navy Yard massacre happening in America again are really really really good. And the chances of something like this happening to you and me are really good too.
There are definitely a lot better odds in favor of us getting killed by our fellow Americans than by terrorists (one in 20 million are the odds of us getting killed by a terrorist). Look what happened at the Navy Yard for instance. Apparently Aaron Alexis was NOT a terrorist, just another fellow-American with guns having a bad day http://www.timesreporter.com/features/x1837085526/Police-responding-to-reported-shooter-at-Navy-Yard.
Based on even the vague statistics now available, the chances of something like the Navy Yard massacre happening in America again are really really really good. And the chances of something like this happening to you and me are really good too.
PS:
Last night I had a rather graphic dream informing me explicitly that
the manner in which I myself would meet my own demise would be to get
shot through the heart. Bam! Right in the middle of the ribcage. Dead
as a doornail. That's me.
So if Disney is right and dreams
really do come true, I now know exactly how I will die. No sweet,
painless "went peacefully in her sleep" good death for me. Apparently
I'm
gonna become just another gunshot statistic. Part of the fifth cause
of death? Part of the tenth cause of death? Of the sixteenth cause of
death? Or just another statistic in the next Navy Yard or Sandy Hook or
Aurora or Columbine massacre? But does it really matter which category
I'm gonna fall into? Dead is dead.
"But, Jane," you
might ask, "if dreams really do come true, how can you prevent yourself
from meeting this sad fate?" That's a
no-brainer. Lawmakers could easily save my life (and also the lives of
approximately 35,000 other Americans this year alone) simply by making
guns less accessible. Works for me. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-19/american-gun-deaths-to-exceed-traffic-fatalities-by-2015.html
But as things now stand, with so many of my country's armed killers
abroad and so many of my country's armed killers at home, I won't be the
only one to get shot through the heart. America will also be shot
through the heart.
PS: This weekend I will be attending BoucherCon http://bcon2013.com/, a murder-mystery writers and readers convention in Albany, NY, and will be staying in some shady Sam-Spade-type
hotel in a sleazy Jack-Reacher part of town. Perhaps that is where I
will meet my death by gunshot? And then have hundreds of crime-novel
buffs all standing around, ready to solve the Whodunnit part of my
homicide! Awesome.
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Advertizements for myself: In these hard times of brutal (and illegal) corporatist ball-busting socialism-for-the-rich-only, I am doing whatever I can to make a spare dollar. Here are some of my current alternate-economy schemes that never seem to work -- but I keep hoping!
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If anyone ever wants to hire me on as a travel writer (or war correspondent), "Have laptop, will travel!"
******
Need someone to help you throw out stuff? I'm really good at deciding what needs to be thrown out (starting with all those corporate-owned bums in Washington!)
****
Need an actor to play an older woman in your movie? Then I'm your man! I can portray all kinds of older women -- from judges, business execs and other insane zombies to bag ladies, cancer patients, kindly grandmothers and dying patients in rest homes. I've played them all. So send me a script and let's do this. Hollywood, here we come! Here's my reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C91uEYjLUXA
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