my umpteenth blog

Yesterday, the Washington post published a blessedly logical and unemotional call for better gun control by Fareed Zakaria. Its clear organization of the facts leaves little room for doubt as to the cause of America's gun violence epidemic. He points out that while American rates of non-gun related crimes are comparable to those of other wealthy, developed nations, our rates of gun violence are 12-30 times higher than those countries. The difference cannot be culture. The difference cannot be the media. The difference cannot be video games. The difference cannot be higher rates of mental illness. Other countries have violent cultures, media complexes that present violent crimes with sensationalized language and obsessive detail, are far more involved in video games than ours, and have comparable rates of mental illness. The major, glaring difference is our permissive gun laws, originally written and passed to promote the ability of American citizens to defend themselves; laws which now make it a necessity that Americans defend themselves. It is not healthy. It is not safe. I am not willing to risk my life on a daily basis simply so those around me can exercise their government (not God) granted right to carry tools of despair, nor am I willing to join them in their insanity to protect myself.

Read Zakaria's editorial here.

(Sorry for the political digression, I'll be back to posting music videos and boring stories soon, I promise.)