• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Friday, June 2, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

US Gun Violence: Biden, You Need to Do Something. Now

Stephen J. Lyons by Stephen J. Lyons
10/26/21
in Featured, Opinion
President Biden speaks about the Colorado shootings at the White House.

President Biden speaks about the Colorado shootings at the White House. Photo: Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

“I pledge allegiance to our paymaster, the National Rifle Association, and to its unfettered arsenal of horror, for which it defends, one broken Nation for which it divides, with carnage and heartbreak for all.”

There, America, I fixed it for you.

President Joe Biden often promises in his remarks that we can do anything, that everything is possible. He means well in that rather irritating whispery, elementary school voice he employs, but his statement is simply false.

Mr. President, there is something we can’t do: ban assault weapons and pass sensible gun legislation.

The two most recent mass murders in Atlanta and Boulder will do little to grow spines among our so-called Congressional leaders, whose fidelity to the National Rifle Association and its blood money is unyielding. And disgusting.

Protect From All Enemies

One could say that the victims, our beloved American brothers and sisters, were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but there no longer is a right place at the right time.

We are gunned down worshipping in our mosques, churches, and synagogues. We are butchered while relaxing in spas, studying in schools, watching movies in theaters, shopping in stores, dining in restaurants, and just about any normal activity one can conger. 

As one witness to the Boulder slaughter said to CNN, he “nearly got killed for getting a soda.”

So, see President Biden, in America, the nation you love and lead, and are sworn to protect from all enemies, domestic and foreign, there is nothing we can do that is safe from the insanity of violent white males with military-grade weaponry. 

You need to do something. Now.

People hold up their phones during a prayer and candle vigil after a shooting left 21 people dead in El Paso, Texas
People hold up their phones during a prayer and candle vigil after a shooting left 21 people dead in El Paso, Texas. Photo: Mark Ralston, AFP

Banning the AR-15

An AR-15 is a hunting weapon. It hunts people. It sprays bullets. It is the weapon du jour and every American is its prey. 

This weapon needs to be banned. Today.

Every time I go out in public now I feel as if I have a target on my back. When I stand in line in a big box grocery store I not only scan the items, I check out where the closest exits are. I observe the other customers for signs of odd behaviors because, let’s face it, today everyone is a suspect and the line between deranged and normal can be marked in chalk. 

Sometimes my heart begins to palpitate and only returns to its normal heartbeat once I’m back in my car.

But who am I fooling? I’m not safe there either.

Gun Violence in the US

In 2020, the year of unimaginable deaths from COVID-19, a record number of Americans were killed because of gun violence. According to the Gun Violence Archive, 19,380 people lost their lives from homicides—299 children, ages 11 and under, 1,073, ages 12-17—a marked increase from the previous year’s total of 15,440, 209 children, ages 11 and under, and 779, ages 12-17.

This rise in gun deaths correlates with an increase in (surprise!) gun sales. (Remember, the NRA is first and foremost a gun manufacturers’ lobby, or, to say it in plain street lingo, its pimp.) Some 40 million guns were purchased in 2020, a 40 percent rise over the previous year.

But that was then. In January of this year, the infamous month of the attempted insurrection against the federal government, a new record for gun sales was reached: 4,137,480, a 60 percent increase over the previous month, according to USA Today. Michigan, no strangers to militia activity, saw its January gun purchases soar by 306 percent from January 2020, according to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check. 

But these are simply numbers. Cold statistics. Static data. One can get lost in the figures to the point of becoming numb to the almost daily occurrence of unthinkable gun tragedy that hobbles this nation like a ball and chain.

Remember Their Names

The names of the victims in Monday’s Boulder mass shooting were read by the Boulder Police Department in the next morning’s grim press conference. Their ages range from 20 to 65. They include Boulder Police officer Eric Talley, 51, father of seven children, ages seven to 20. 

Here are the nine other victims. Remember their names: Denny Strong, 20, Neven Stanisic, 23, Rikki Olds, 25, Tralona Bartkowiak, 49, Teri Leiker, 51, Suzanne Fountain, 59, Kevin Mahoney, 61, Lynn Murray, 62, Jodi Waters, 65. 

In The Long Way Around, Jackson Browne sings, “It’s never been that hard to buy a gun/Now they’ll sell a Glock 19 to just about anyone/The seeds of tragedy are there/In what we feel we have the right to bear/To watch our children come to harm/There in the safety of our arms.”

Seeds of our tragedy indeed. 

President Biden, I am asking you, pleading with you, as I have asked previous presidents over and over again, what do you feel we have the right to bear? And what will you do to keep us from harm?

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.
ShareTweet
Stephen J. Lyons

Stephen J. Lyons

Author of four books of essays and journalism. His most recent book is 'Going Driftless: Life Lessons from the Heartland for Unraveling Times'

Related Posts

A man holds US, Taiwan flags
Business

US and Taiwan Ink Trade Deal as China Issues Warning

by Staff Writer
June 2, 2023
A noose is seen on makeshift gallows as supporters of US President Donald Trump gather on the West side of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021
National

Militia Leader Gets 18 Years in Prison Over US Capitol Attack

by Staff Writer
May 26, 2023
A billboard showing the debt limit is seen in Washington, D.C.
National

US Republicans Upbeat on Prospects for Debt Deal

by Staff Writer
May 19, 2023
Military hardware rolls through Dvortsovaya Square during a Victory Day military parade in central Saint Petersburg
National

Pressing Russia, US Shares Nuclear Warhead Data Under Treaty

by Staff Writer
May 16, 2023
A man holding a gun
Opinion

The NRA’s Continuing Agenda of Fear

by Stephen J. Lyons
May 12, 2023
US Panel Recommends Nonprescription Use of Contraception Pill
National

US Panel Recommends Nonprescription Use of Contraception Pill

by Staff Writer
May 11, 2023
Next Post
A person receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

WHO Seeks 10 Mn Vaccine Doses 'Immediately' for Last Nations

An Indonesian anti-terror policeman stands guard following an explosion outside a church in Makassar, March 28, 2021.

Explosion Outside Cathedral in Indonesia: Media

Recommended

A man holds US, Taiwan flags

US and Taiwan Ink Trade Deal as China Issues Warning

June 2, 2023
Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.

Beyond Numbers: Confronting Europe’s Broken Border System

May 30, 2023
A noose is seen on makeshift gallows as supporters of US President Donald Trump gather on the West side of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021

Militia Leader Gets 18 Years in Prison Over US Capitol Attack

May 26, 2023
Customers queue to enter a re-opened Zara clothes shop

EU Targets Fast Fashion in Push for Durable Goods

May 23, 2023
A billboard showing the debt limit is seen in Washington, D.C.

US Republicans Upbeat on Prospects for Debt Deal

May 19, 2023
Military hardware rolls through Dvortsovaya Square during a Victory Day military parade in central Saint Petersburg

Pressing Russia, US Shares Nuclear Warhead Data Under Treaty

May 16, 2023

Opinion

Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.

Beyond Numbers: Confronting Europe’s Broken Border System

May 30, 2023
A man holding a gun

The NRA’s Continuing Agenda of Fear

May 12, 2023
US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

A Supreme Folly 

April 24, 2023
Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 26, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, a Turkish province where hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake

Heed the Call of Our Broken World

March 1, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post