Our gun culture is a massive failure. We are neither more free nor more safe from tyranny or violence or crime. We are simply more exposed to danger and to death.
It is time we re-examine our assumptions and take an honest and analytical look at firearms, not the myth or heroic stupid fantasies, but the realities.
These are the realities - that guns do far far more harm than any good. I don't care about the excuses, the coulda woulda shoulda's of this. Too many guns are killing and injuring too damned many people, and the massive restriction, and in many case removal of guns would dramatically reduce the problem.
There is no 'upside'; we aren't safer, we do not have less crime, we do not have an protection with personal firearms from 'tyranny' or from foreign invasion or terrorism. We simply have avoidable deaths and injuries like these.
4-year-old boy shot dead on NYC playground
By NBCNewYork.com
A 4-year-old New York boy died after being struck in the head by a stray bullet on a Bronx playground Sunday evening, police say.
Authorities say gunfire erupted at about 9:30 p.m. at the playground in the Forest Houses in Morrisania, and the child got caught in the crossfire.
For more visit NBCNewYork.com
The boy, identified as Lloyd Morgan, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.“When my friend didn’t see her kid, she panicked,” a woman who said she was a friend of the Morgans told the New York Daily News. “Then she saw him on the floor, shot.”
Authorities say two men were also shot. A 27-year-old was shot in the stomach and a 21-year-old was shot in the arm. Both are expected to survive.It wasn’t immediately clear whether the two men were innocent bystanders or targets.
Residents described chaos as people began running throughout the park and parents grabbed their children. No arrests have been made. Police continue to investigate.Lawmakers, clergy and residents in the community planned to rally Monday afternoon to call for an end to the violence that has plagued playgrounds and basketball courts throughout the city in recent weeks.Bronx Assemblyman Eric Stevenson called the most recent incident frustrating and urged anyone who knows who pulled the trigger to step forward."We can't tolerate this any longer. Those who know these people need to step forward," Stevenson said. "It's not about snitching. It's about protecting lives of 4-year-olds. And those who know in this community need to step forward."
"Those who are doing these horrendous crimes are going to be caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," he added. "You're taking the lives of young people. You will be taken out of this community."
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