Apparently our opponents think some forms of asking and telling are just fine. Actually, I have no real problems with Ask Day. I’m not against our opponents using social pressure to achieve their policy goals. In a free society, shame is really what should keep people in line, rather than governmental fiats. The real reason the gay rights movement has won is because they removed the shame in it, no matter how badly social conservatives might try to reassert it.
I view this similarly to conservative efforts to shame homosexuality. I am not supportive of such efforts, but I still believe they have a right to do it. Strangely enough, despite my opinions favoring gay marriage and favoring non-discrimination in sexual orientation — when it comes to the military, I’m not quite as much of a cheerleader. The military currently segregates men and women because there’s an understanding that sexual issues can be problematic in a military environment, where intimate living arrangements can be the rule rather than the exception.
That said, I’m not in favor of DADT because the military has demonstrated they can’t help but abuse the policy. I can understand how sexual issues could come into play where intimate living conditions are the norm, but there have been enough cases of the military drumming gays out of the service just for the sake of doing so that I can no longer support this policy.
Apparently our opponents do not wish to take this kind of approach, because when it comes to supporting enumerated constitutional freedoms, they let their own ignorance rule. I have no problems with parents asking other parents about guns in the house, but if in that same sentence they aren’t also asking about swimming pools and dangerous household chemicals, they are being naive in their duties. Statistically all those things kill more kids by accident than firearms do.
Q: Is there a gun is your home?
A: It’s probably best that your child does not come over here to play with my child and you can explain to you kid why my child will not be coming to your house again.
Then I would follow up to them:
Do you have prescription drugs in your house?
Are either you or your spouse on anti depressants or under the care of a licensed physiological professional?
Do you or your spouse use illegal drugs?
Do you have alcohol in your home? Is it locked up?
Are the kitchen knifes accessible to anyone?
Has your home been tested for radon? Was the test positive? What remediation steps have you taken?
Are you and your spouse current with CPR and first aid certification?
Is there an aggressive dog in your home? It is up to date with shots?
You have have working smoke alarms, natural gas detectors, co2 detectors?
“I’m not against our opponents using social pressure to achieve their policy goals. In a free society, shame is really what should keep people in line, rather than governmental fiats.”
And that in a nutshell is why the current anti-gun crusade is so immoral if not down right evil. The whole focus of the crusade is anti-gun legislation, usually of a sort which criminalizes ordinary peaceful gun possession. In other words the whole point of the anti-gun movement is to use gun-armed police to take away everyone else’s guns!
Bite your tongue David! Everyone knows there’s only one possible source of danger in the home!
Sebastian, what’s your source for the statement that pools and poison kill more kids than firearms? I thought so as well but the CDC shows firearms as #2 behind motor vehicles in at least the 10-14 age group.
http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/Unintentional_2007-a.pdf
The internets have that info:
http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html
Ash:
Presumably ASK is intending to prevent accidents. If your 10-14 year old is hanging around with known criminals, is involved in gangs, drugs, or is otherwise hanging around friends that are homicidal, I’d suggest asking the other parents about guns is probably not likely to successfully deal with a problem running that deep.
ASK is pretty clearly targeted at middle class families that generally aren’t worried about gang problems.
I have to disagree with you on DADT. To me, it was an acceptable policy. It allowed homosexuals to serve while maintaining order and discipline. The reason for the separation is similar to the reason that females do not serve in combat units. The possibility of romantic engagements between members of a unit is an unnecessary distraction that does not provide any benefit to mission accomplishment. Notably, this is less vital in certain non-combat commands where the lifestyle is similar to a civilian workplace. However, the military does not exist to make the troops feel good about themselves or to provide alternative career options for Americans. It exists to defend this country. In doing so Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen sacrifice their personal liberty to defend the liberty of American citizens. This distinction is often lost on those pushing the repeal of policies like DADT.
Sebastian, I’m not seeing how those CDC numbers reflect 14 year old criminals – those numbers are unintentional injury deaths, whereas presumably gang shootings are covered under the intentional death category?
I wouldn’t get too upset with someone who asks about guns in the home. They likely haven’t given it much thought and are just going along with what they’ve been led to believe by the media. It’s an opportunity to open their eyes to our side of the story. One should take advantage of that opportunity to educate them – the anti’s wouldn’t like that. :)
Ash, I just looked at the chart you provided. Homicide by Firearm is #2 on the chart, for 10-14 year olds. Unintential Firearm is #10 on that chart, below Unintentional Drowning and Unintentional Poisoning. Suicide Firearm is #9, but that’s below Suicide suffocation (which is #3).
So, Sebastian is right: if you don’t want your children to be murdered, you need to do what you can to keep them out of gangs. Even if they are in gangs, though, they are more likely to die in a car accident (by a factor of about 4.5)!