If You Give A Kid A Gun …

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary

In this era of Trump, we’ve heard some pretty stupid things, but something I read just this morning takes the cake.  With the subject of gun control back in the headlines in the wake of the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton a couple of weeks ago, the NRA is spewing their message once again about “a good guy with a gun”, etc.

Florida is one of the states considering a ban on assault weapons, so the NRA jumped into action, sending one of their leading lobbyists and former president of the NRA (1995-1998), Marion Hammer, to speak to a group of economists. marion-hammer.pngMs. Hammer’s first argument against the proposed amendment to ban assault weapons was that Florida Governor Rick Scott “solicited and offered significant financial incentives to gun manufacturers to come to Florida to bring more jobs”.  And now, the poor gun manufacturers may suffer a financial loss if assault weapons are banned.  They’ve got my deepest sympathy.  Hey!  I’ve got an idea … let’s send them “thoughts and prayers”, shall we?

But, Ms. Hammer’s second argument for why Florida should drop the ridiculous notion of saving lives by banning these guns that were intended only for use by the military, is even more ludicrous …

“How do you tell a 10-year-old little girl who got a Ruger 10/22 with a pink stock for her birthday that her rifle is an assault weapon and she has to turn it over to government or be arrested for felony possession?”

pink-assault-riflePick your jaws up off the ground now, take a deep breath.  Yes, she actually said that.  What sort of an idiot gives a 10-year-old child a damn assault rifle???  Anybody … ANYBODY who would give a child a gun of any sort, let alone an assault weapon, deserves to be drawn and quartered!!!

This is not the first time Ms. Hammer has come onto my radar.  About a year ago, I dedicated an entire post to her when she asserted her power to force the state to issue certain questionable gun licenses.  I was appalled that someone who doesn’t even hold a position in government had the sort of power she had, that she was able to browbeat and intimidate government officials to do her bidding.

Lest you think that most of the nation has better sense than to place firearms in the small arms of children, read this excerpt from an article in The Guardian last year …

A 2012 report by the Hunting Heritage Trust and the National Shooting Sports Foundation states: “It is important to consider more hunting and target shooting recruitment programs aimed at middle school level, or earlier.”

The report lays out a “Youth Hunter and Shooter Ambassador Program” strategy, in which kids are encouraged to influence their friends to get into guns. “Youth ambassadors and others should focus on getting newcomers to take a first step into target shooting through any means … The point should be to get newcomers started shooting something, with the natural next step being a move toward actual firearms.”

Young children looking to get into shooting have plenty of options when it comes to guns designed just for them. A 2014 article on NRA Family, an NRA-run website, profiles Marlin’s “new kid-friendly rifles”. The writer enthuses that Marlin’s “new XT line of .22 rifles … are not just sized for kids; they’re completely designed for kids”.pink-gunsAnother article on the NRA Family website suggests kids might also think about using Thompson/Center HotShot rifle, “a tiny gun intended for the very youngest shooters”. A company spokesman explains that gun targets “the six- to 12-year-old range”. These come in a variety of fun colour options.

Ms. Hammer was instrumental in the passage of Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law that allowed George Zimmerman to get off scot-free after murdering an unarmed young black man, Trayvon Martin.  And, while Governor Scott was happily giving tax incentives to companies like Colt and the Russian Kalashnikov (makers of the notorious AK-47), there was the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in 2016 that killed 49 people and wounded 53 more.  And then in 2018, the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people died and 17 more were wounded.

gun-ad-kidOh yeah, folks, the answer is not only more guns, but let’s start ‘em off as soon as their old enough to hold one in their hand.  Right out of the cradle, so that by the time they are teenagers, they will already own an arsenal that includes at least 3 or 4 assault rifles and maybe even a grenade launcher or two, eh?

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46 thoughts on “If You Give A Kid A Gun …”

  1. Hmm.
    ‘Happy birthday darling, here is you automatic weapon’
    Two years later as deepest adolescence has arrived and the hormones are raging.
    ‘No young lady! You cannot go out until you have cleaned up your room!’
    Stomp…stomp…..upstairs.
    ‘Oooooooooh! So unfair! ‘ sprawls under the bed to reach for her cute pink stocked automatic….
    Yeah….
    Of course I am exaggerating….Aren’t I?
    (Survivor of three teenagers)

    Liked by 3 people

  2. Jill, whether it is a pink weapon or bubble-gum flavored vaping, the mission is the same – addict to the young person to their product.

    Yet, with the predominant reason for gun deaths being suicide, access to a weapon dramatically increases the propensity. Parents, all it takes is for a depressed or despondent teen to take his or her life is one impulsive act. Keith

    Liked by 2 people

    • You’re right, and all those companies who would do such a thing are shameless, should be boycotted. I don’t buy guns and don’t vape, so I am already boycotting them, but I do smoke and the tobacco companies were guilty of similar tactics for decades.

      And yes, a life can be snuffed out in just one second with a gun. Any parent who would allow his child to have a gun … I have no words, but would like to bash said parent over the head with something, perhaps my cast iron skillet! A teen who takes a drug overdose has a pretty good chance of being saved if medical treatment is sought soon enough. A kid who shoots himself in the head has zero chance.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. It is not dissimilar to Russia where all kids go through some sort of automatic weapon training. This creating a future army. This is creating a ‘kill’ mentality. This is creating the idea that people must eliminate each other and all animals. That’s it. That’s the plan and always was. Weapons are intended to kill!

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Yep..let’s give kids as many guns as possible. Indoctrinate…coerce. Let’s get em while their young right? Sounds like the tobacco industry to me. You couldn’t get two more despicable industries then these two Jill……

    Liked by 2 people

  7. It seems to me that if you give a kid a gun, something or someone is going to get shot. I cannot believe that Marion Hammer at 80 years of age is still Florida’s spokesperson for the NRA. I mean, really…shouldn’t she be baking cookies for the grandchildren rather than buying them guns?! Thank-you!

    Liked by 3 people

  8. Hello Jill. Never trust some one to do the right thing when their paycheck requires them to do the wrong thing. As for the good guy with a gun thing, I think a mass shooting in a Texas Walmart where the shooter walked out, got into his car and started to drive away should put that to rest. Don’t get me started on guns in schools. You know, by making guns seem like play toys that is going to get more kids kill by police mistaking a toy gun for the real thing. Think Tamir Rice. I guess I understand why some people say greed is the root of evil. Hugs

    Liked by 3 people

    • Ahhh yes, silly me for thinking that life was more important than stupid pieces of metal welded together o make an implement of death and destruction. You’re right … turning guns into the norm, into everyday occurrences, is not only horrendous, but is also against the conscience of every thinking person in the U.S. Hugs!

      Liked by 1 person

  9. You know my opinion on putting guns in people’s hands (just DONT DO IT!!!) … and now this strange woman who could be anyone’s grandma is talking about pink assault rifles for kids …. This is just sick. – But why am I surprised? These are crazy times. Maybe in 200 years students will use documents like this in their history class as example for the barbaric times their ancestors lived in (if we don’t turn this planet into an oven and fry ourselves before that…).

    Liked by 4 people

    • And you know I fully agree with your opinion. I would not shed a single tear if every single gun in this nation were found beneath the sea tomorrow morning. I am convinced that we don’t have another 200 years, perhaps not even 50, to figure this all out. I think that we are on our way to self-extinction, and likely the animal kingdom is on the sidelines hoping those pesky humans can be gone soon.

      Good to see you! I was thinking about you a day or so ago, wondering how your vacation in Austria is going, hoping that you are making progress on the book …

      Liked by 1 person

      • You might be right … maybe the students studying those documents will be huge smart ants or something like that.

        Anyway: vacation in Austria is over … it was filled with gardening, swimming in the lake, family time … so almost no progress in the book, I am afraid. School holidays are never good for writing progress. 😉 We are back in the Netherlands now, the boys are still off from school and I am tackling the laundry and my small garden here. Two more weeks before schools start, so I guess not much writing time until then.

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  10. What a sick nightmare just like your banner picture.This has got to stop and itg should stop with the gun companies showing some common sense. Stop encouraging children to bring more into the fold by calling them ambassadors, they’re not, they’re unpaid salesmen for your firms.There are plenty of great, fun and safe toy guns out there to keep children entertained without youngsters hurting themselves or someone else.Yes that would be the parents fault but who was it got little Johnny/Janey nagging their parent for a gun. For heaven’s sake just settle for a smaller profit. No doubt you’ll catch the children further down the line since you’#ve told them no life is complete without a gun, And allow the ban on automatic weapons which are of no earthly use unless you’re in a war.You’re NOT.
    Cwtch

    Liked by 4 people

    • Hi David,
      The NRA (read gun manufacturers of America) have no common sense, ony $ signs in their eyes!
      Lower their profits? Let’s get serious, without huge profits they cannot afford to build more gun factories. You know they need more gun factories. You know how long it will take to build as many guns as there are Americans? (6 months, possibly, but who is counting?) Those guns only go “Pop!” Kids want guns that go Rattatattat, a very satisfying sound. So they shoot their parents, so what. They had fun doing it.

      Oh, the obscenity of it!

      Liked by 3 people

    • It is very much a sick nightmare. As much as I have seen and heard in the past couple of years, as unconscionable as I know the NRA to be, this still took my breath away. I was so … appalled? stunned? devastated? None seem to express how I felt when I saw this. Smith & Wesson, Colt, Kalashnikov … I hope they all go belly up before the end of the year. I hope their CEOs jump off of rooftops. I hope … I hope … that this nation wakes up and remembers that lives matter more than toys. That guns are the tools of those too wimpy to fight a fair fight. Sigh.
      Cwtch

      Liked by 2 people

  11. Seriously, what kind of a parent with a sound mind gives their daughter some freaking Barbie pink assault rifle for a birthday or Christmas? There are actually parents who do this in America? Wow, just wow. Would it be too much to ask to replace it with a Super Soaker, Nerf Gun or a laser tag set? At least I know someone isn’t going to be dead wielding those. I can’t believe people are this paranoid that the government would even think about taking guns away. That’s not going to happen and it shows how cowardly these people are.

    Liked by 4 people

    • You answered your own question. NO parent with a sound mind would even consider placing a gun in their kids’ hands, but there are freaks who place guns above their own children. I did a post a year or so ago about a couple who, when faced with the choice of giving up their guns or their children, valued their guns more highly and their children are now in foster care. It has become an obsession in this country … a rallying cry … sigh.

      Liked by 2 people

      • Good point. Haha! In all seriousness, any parent who does give their child a real gun is really unfit to have children. That is tragic how some parents value their guns over their children. I don’t blame them for being in foster care because they don’t deserve this. If these same people cared about children as much as their guns, laws would’ve been passed and mass shootings would be curbed.

        Liked by 2 people

        • I agree completely! I did a post a year or so about a couple who left their gun in plain sight, one of their kids got it and shot the other kid. Social Services told them to get rid of the guns, or they would take the children. Apparently the couple valued the guns more than the kids, and the kids are now in foster care. People like that should never even have children!

          Liked by 2 people

  12. Maybe you have too many guns, the wrong kind of guns, your gun licenses are too easy to obtain, and there isn’t enough control over who can get hold of .a gun. FFS you no longer live in the Wild West. Guns kill people, that’s what they’re for.
    Jeez
    Hugs and sympathies Jill 💖💖💖

    Liked by 3 people

    • In my book, one gun in the hands of an idiot is too many, but … what do I know, right? I am the minority in this country when it comes to such things. Sigh. Thanks, dear Jack … I need both the hugs and the sympathy. I’m near ready to jump off that cliff. Sigh. ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      • We get bottles of 500 and have bought 2 at a time already so I feel your pain.
        I actually used to get migraines ALOT but they are a lot more under control now! Now the big “headache ” in the White House needs to be kicked out and that would help!!

        Like

  14. Love your “let’s send them “thoughts and prayers” idea as adequate consolation for gun manufacturers’ financial loss. Hey, if it’s good enough for the loved ones of those killed by guns, I’m sure the gun manufacturers would accept it in the same spirit..

    Liked by 4 people

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