I am sickened by yet another weekend of senseless murder by guns. This time six elderly women in two states were gunned down just for being there. I know, if only the four grandmothers had had AK-47s in the back seat, they would probably have survived, but they didn’t.
Once again thanks to the Republicans for doing absolutely nothing to protect our citizens. Instead they continue to spout skewed data and lies (which is what they’re best at) and support more guns. The lunatic fringe continues to rule the party.
Speaking of that fringe, certainly Denise Murray is one of the local grand poohbahs. I read the “cold hard facts” in her latest letter to the editor (Herald, Feb. 19) where she listed 12 “heavily gun controlled” and “defense unfriendly” cities where “violent crime is off the charts” that are all under Democratic control. She inferred it’s because not enough good guys had guns due to Democrats. Stop listening to Glenn Beck. I did some fact checking of my own. Data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention show that when firearm death rates are measured in deaths per 1,000 people, and age adjusted – which is a much more accurate measure: Ten states with highest rates are Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Wyoming, Montana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Tennessee. Nine out of ten of these states voted Republican in the 2012 presidential election. Ten states with lowest rates are Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Minnesota, California and Iowa. All of these states voted Democrat.
So what does it all mean? Depends on how much you want to stretch your imagination, but clearly there is data out there that flies in the face of Murray’s “cold hard facts.” I know one thing for sure – if there were no guns, there would be no gun-related crimes. That’s a fact. Yeah, yeah, I know, there is no such thing as gun violence because guns are inanimate objects incapable of violence. What an unmitigated crock.
Ken Van Zee
Durango