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Wednesday, February 24, 2010 | 8:00am
Our Obsession w/Guns
Taking the second amendment too far
Jayson Williams was sentenced to 5 years in prison yesterday for fatally shooting his Limo Driver back in 2002. This closes the chapter on one of many incidents were a Black celebrity derails their career b/c they decided on gun-play as opposed to playing on the court or field, or playing the leading role in the latest movie, or playing to a sold out arena for 100k. Just last month Gilbert Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton were both suspended for the remainder of the season for bringing guns into the locker room at the Verizon Center. Lil Wayne is soon to serve a year for gun possession, Prodigy of Mobb Deep is currently locked up for a gun charge as well as Remy Ma. Shyne was recently released from prison after serving more than 8 years for shooting a woman in the face @ a nightclub in Manhattan. Remember Cavs point guard Delonte West’s incident over the summer where he was pulled over and police found several different firearms in his possession. We now refer to someone causing bodily harm to themselves or getting in their own way as “Plaxicoing yourself” b/c of former Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress and his incident were he shot himself in the thigh over Thanksgiving weekend in 08. The crazy part about it is these are only the incidents I can remember off the top of my head (Insane!).
Clearly there is something wrong w/our mentality when it comes to firearms. As Americans we have the “Right to Bear Arms” but that right comes w/a level of responsibility that is so high maybe it shouldn’t be extended to everyone. I know people right now w/o a job, w/o money but they have a gun, some more than one. We probably can all name at least one person we know who’s life was cut short on purpose or by accident b/c of a gun. So why is it after all these years and incidents public and private are we so passe about guns in our communities and gun reform laws. What is it? Is it TV, or environment, The slave mentality that perpetuates violence towards each other, or is it too much testosterone flowing where the gun is an extension of our penis similar to flashy cars and gaudy jewelry. Or is it a combination of all these things? If so how do we change our mindset?Do you need a gun to be hard? Or do you need to be hard to carry a gun? Please nation help me find the answer before I fall into the trap and end up Plaxicoing myself!
FILED IN Editorials, Entertainment, Music, Need to Know, News, Sports, TV
I totally agree with your comments. Gun ownership is a serious responsibility; and people shouldn’t carry guns just to be cool.
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Here in Michigan (unlike New York), carrying legally is actually pretty easy. We are what is known as a ‘shall issue’ state. In the old days, you had to prove why you needed to carry a gun. In a ‘shall issue’ state, it’s up to them to prove why you SHOULDN’T be allowed to carry.
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So, $150 for a gun safety class, a few hundred for the license, and a visit to the board, and they MUST issue the license unless they can prove you’re a nut. That doesn’t allow you to shoot people randomly, of course, but at least it could do away with the problem of carrying.
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I own several guns myself. For me, shooting is like golf; it’s a sport where you are in competition with yourself, a challenge to see how much you can improve your own performance.
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However: I don’t carry. My guns have locks on them, and the guns are kept in a safe where no one can get their hands on them.
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And in case anyone is interested, here is my current collection (you can click on the photos to see a larger picture)
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http://malcolmrant.blogspot.com/2010/02/current-gun-collection.html
wow. Your citations of examples really put this all in perspective. The wild thing is of all the people you mentioned, none of them are “gangsta.” I mean you have a bunch of people who either carry a gun for no reason and get caught or carry it for no reason and accidentally shoot someone or themselves (and get caught.) Imaging how many haven’t gotten caught.
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As Malcolm said, guns are a serious responsibility and if you aren’t responsible as a person, you shouldn’t own one even if you feel you need one.
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Great post.
I think Malcolm hit the nail on the head of at least one of the main problems. The ease with which a person can obtain a firearm, legally or illegally. In certain hoods one can find a gun before they find a fruit stand or a bank. There’s something fundamentally wrong with the system. There are just too many guns out there period and too often end up in the wrong hands.
But many of the examples you gave are celebrity which permeates down through to their fans. How do we keep guns out of celebrities hands?
ive only had 4 handguns in my life and one rifle. obsession? no. just like to shoot and hunt a lil bit.
*I have to get another Desert Eagle .50AE tho. My last one was a BEAST!!!!! and yes, it was legal.
If you couldn’t get them legally would u still have them? Do you have them only b/c there so easy to obtain? IDK ur age Macika but 4 guns over the span of a lifetime seems like a lot. Gilbert Arenas was said to have an extensive gun collection, my question is why? Why would you indulge in something that causes such destruction if its not part of your job ie: law enforcement, armed guard, military. That’s were I’m coming from what makes us as Americans, Black Americans so gun crazy. When the negatives far outweigh the positives
Nothing wrong with having a weapon, you’ve just named people who’ve made bad choices with them.
I think it’s plain old FEAR! Instead of having fear in God some folks have fear in Man and their own selves. I’m not even the type to get deep into spirituality and Christ especially on these blog sites. But it’s evident the fear is strong in alot of folks carrying weapons.Owning one and carrying one is different. Here in Indiana it’s like the Wil WIld west. The laws are probably similar to those in Michigan.
I have a pistol myself, LEGAL I may add and I don’t carry it everywhere. I keep it at home, AWAY from my kids, but close enough for me to get to in order to protect my home and those living in it.
I am one who is totally against guns. Like 4pl said, the negatives outweigh the positives by an astronomicle number. What ever happened to the stong will survive, have we lost the sense of pride in ourselves that instead of beating our enemy physically or mentally to show who is the toughest or smartest we simply go with who can exterminate the quickest?
For those who use it for protection, at what cost is a human life? If someone breaks into your house to steal items, are they more valuable than a human life? Plus how often are you conviently close enough to a locked firearm to actually use it in an emergengy?
For the hunters, why do you need bigger and better guns? A bullet from a .44 kills just like a bullet from a semi-automatic rifle. A bullet from one rifle kills just like a bullet from three rifles.
Lastly, (this may be disturbing) but what happened to the thrill of getting your anger out through your fist and making someone or something suffer so they feel the pain they caused you, a bullet does it to quickly and doesn’t allow for the true release of pain.