On December 21, 2012, Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President and CEO of the NRA, made his first public statement about gun violence in our schools since 20 children and 6 school personnel were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Not surprisingly, his solution calls for MORE guns, albeit by the GOOD guys. “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” he said. He proposes that “qualified armed security” be placed in all our schools. This notion scares me, as I assume this armed security force will no doubt make the same mistakes as police officers, private security, and private citizens make who kill innocent people every week because they ‘thought’ someone had a gun or they ‘thought’ that someone was aggressively moving towards them. And how safe will our children be if there is a shootout in our schools between “the bad guy” and “the good guy”? Unfortunately, when bullets start flying they are not going to discriminate between the bad guy and innocent children, teachers, and parents who might be in the room. I am also worried because the security that is in many schools NOW are handcuffing and otherwise traumatizing children that are the same age as the 20 children murdered in Newtown, Connecticut.
Where will this “armed security” end? After all, we have had shootings in shopping malls, theaters, restaurants, churches, fast food establishments, office buildings, and gas stations, just to name a few locations. Is the solution to place armed security everywhere? Who determines who (other than police) is qualified to protect the citizenry with weapons? If someone qualifies with his/her weapon but belongs to one of the over 1, 018 hate groups as documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center would that disqualify him/her from being suitable for “qualified armed security” in our schools-or anywhere else? What will the criteria be for using the weapon? Will there be universal training? What are the penalties when an innocent person is killed?
The text of the Second Amendment reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” It was adopted 221 years ago, at a time when the United States was very wary of a standing army, but recognized the need for some sort of militia. The militia in 1791 was small and was expected to prevent a takeover by a standing army, so the people’s right to bear arms was a defense against both. I understand the relevance of this for 1791, but because we have a mammoth Military Industrial Complex in the 21st century, it doesn’t matter how many guns private citizens have, we would not win a fight with any standing army-especially our own. But I honor the Bill of Rights-including the Second Amendment-with the same reservation that I honor Section 1 of the Thirteenth Amendment: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” While the Thirteenth Amendment ON PAPER ended slavery, the Black Codes that were almost immediately established in each and every State guaranteed that every newly freed slave could easily be convicted of something somewhere on any given day.
But I don’t want to digress, because gun control is the topic right now. To quote Dr. Phil McGraw, “The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.“ As 2012 draws to a close, I find myself doing what I always do about this time every year: I critique what has happened in America over the past year. I try to look at events both separately AND in their totality, but a pattern always seems to develop. The re-election of President Barack H. Obama was certainly a highlight-if only because a majority of Americans decided to ignore the lies and negativity and instead sent a message to the 1% who took advantage of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that FORWARD-and not backwards- is the direction America should go.
On a more troubling note, however, many extrajudicial killings occurred in 2012. These are those summary executions where a person is accused of a crime and is immediately killed by either police, private security personnel, or private citizens who act as judge, jury, and executioner. Common in other parts of the world, it is frightening to see these killings occurring more and more in the land of the free and home of the brave. The war on drugs and gangs has all too often become a war on young black men and women. This is not to dismiss black on black murders, for they certainly occur also. It is problematic when those who are paid to protect law abiding citizens carry out their own version of street justice. The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and the Malcolm X Solidarity Committee released a report mid-2012 entitled “Every 36 Hours: Report on the Extrajudicial Killing of 120 Black people” that alleges that police, security guards, or neighborhood watchmen kill a black man, woman, or child every 36 hours. MXGM call them “extrajudicial” because they happen without trial or any due process. These killings in 2012 include, for instance:
An unarmed 18 year old teen who was murdered after running into his house and being followed inside by a member of the Narcotics Task Force. Police falsely claimed that this teen was running away from them.
The murder of a 17 year old teen by a 28 year old neighborhood watch person as the teen was walking through a neighborhood he had every right to be in after buying skittles and iced tea at a nearby 7-11. The neighborhood watch person followed him and eventually shot and killed him because he thought the teen looked “suspicious.”
An unarmed 20 year old who fled from police who were investigating a party because alcohol was purportedly being served to underage party goers. This 20 year old hid on a neighbor’s back porch. The neighbor shot him in the chest and killed him. No charges filed, as the D.A. said the neighbor had the right to “defend his home”.
An unarmed 45 year old man who was involved in a car accident got into it with the State Trooper who arrived to investigate. The Trooper said the 45 year old attacked him with his dogs. The Trooper shot the man 3 times, killing him. The Trooper did not shoot the dogs.
A 24 year old unarmed man asked for a refund/or lower price on condoms at a store. The clerk refused, the 24 year old knocked over some merchandise, and the clerk shot and killed him. The clerk was charged with first degree murder.
After some sort of altercation, an 18 year old was running from the scene. A police captain chased him and shot him in the back. Witnesses say the 18 year old was surrendering when he was shot. The police captain was charged with manslaughter.
A 30 year old woman who had a diagnosed mental illness was beaten, held face down on her bed, and suffocated by police-who were initially called to the home where she lived by her concerned family members.
An 18 year old was having a heated conversation in front of his parent’s home while trying to protect his sister. He was killed by two security guards who pretended to be police officers. These guards left the apartment where they were being paid to patrol and unasked, went onto the 18 year old’s parent’s private property. They were arrested for impersonating police officers but were not charged with murder.
A 19 year old was killed by police based on the untruthful statement of a so-called victim who stated the 19 year old had stolen a laptop at gunpoint. There was definitely no gun and most likely no theft. The accuser was charged with manslaughter because “his false statement” led to the teen’s killing.
An 18 year old naked teen was shot and killed by police because he was acting bizarrely and they ‘thought’ he had a knife. Again - he was NAKED.
A 22 year old unarmed young woman was an innocent bystander and was shot in the head and killed by off duty police officer who angrily drove up to a group of people in an unmarked police vehicle.
A 27 year old unarmed man was “stealing” cobblestones from a public housing complex construction site. He saw a police officer and ran from the officer towards his mother’s building. Two officers chased him down and another veered onto the sidewalk and hit him. After six days in a coma,and handcuffed to a hospital bed, he died.
A 23 year old unarmed man was killed by a security officer who was working at a club and claimed the 23 year old tried to force his way in and reached for a gun. No gun was found. The security guard was charged with voluntary manslaughter.
An unarmed 27 year old man was shot and killed by a hotel security guard because the 27 year old and an unidentified woman were arguing with the guard. The security guard was charged with murder.
An unarmed 13 year old was shot and killed by a 75 year old man who accused the teen of stealing his guns. The teen was shot while denying the theft (he was in fact in school at the time of the theft) and with his hands in the air. The 75 year old was charged with first degree murder.
A strip club security guard shot and killed an unarmed 28 year old who was “rolling joints” in the parking lot. The 28 year old was shot 11 times and his friend was shot 4 times. The security guard said he “feared for his life.” He was charged with second degree murder.
A 17 year old teen was murdered while in an SUV with three friends. The murderer confronted the teens because he decided their music was too loud for his sensibilities. After shooting 8 or 9 times into the SUV because “he felt threatened” and killing the teen, the murderer left the scene to stay in a hotel for the night. He did not call police. At some later point the next morning, he drove over 150 miles to his home instead of immediately turning himself in to police. He has been charged with one count of first degree murder and three counts of attempted first degree murder.
Finally, in an online AP poll conducted with researchers from Stanford University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Chicago 2 or 3 months before the elections of November 2012, 51% of Americans expressed explicit anti-Black sentiments. There was little difference between Democrats, Republicans, or even Independents, by the way.
It is, of course, not just African Americans who are harmed when guns are in the hands of the wrong people. Hate, fear, xenophobia, and mental illness are equal opportunity threats. Too many mass killings have proven this in 2012:
A gunman killed seven people and wounded three in a shooting at a Christian college in California.
12 people were killed and 59 injured by a madman with many types of guns in a theater. He ambushed them as they had just settled into a theatre to watch a midnight screening of a Batman movie.
A gunman killed six people during Sunday services at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin before he was shot dead by police.
A gunman opened fire inside an Oregon shopping mall, killing two people and wounding one before killing himself.
11 days before Christmas, 20 children between the age of 6 and 7 were brutally and savagely murdered by a madman armed with numerous weapons. He also killed seven adults-including his mother, the principal of the elementary school where the carnage played out, the school psychologist, and four teachers. And as a coward would do, he killed himself when he heard first responders closing in on him.
Guns don’t kill people. People who have guns and problems kill people. If just one innocent child or adult can be saved by having tougher gun laws in the United States, I’M ALL IN.
