The Silent Killer

House chamber in the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA, seen from visitor’s balcony (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From Tucson to Aurora then Newtown and finally, Boston, out of the blue, those with dangerous designs arose to strike and cause incalculable damage to our society by creating mayhem and slaughtering the innocents where they stood.

The killers’ designs went undetected and the deterrent effect of being captured and prosecuted for their crimes did not dissuade the henchmen from their appointed rounds. Like ships passing in the night, we were left in the dark only to realize the magnitude of the problem after the fact.

Obviously, in order to prevent these massacres from occurring, we must learn from the past and each of the above-mentioned events although different in many respects, have much in common. Despite planning murder on a grand scale, the acts of the demons flew under the radar as much of their conduct was legal even though their designs were not. We as a society must analyze our laws and tighten that which can be tightened so as to thwart future attempts at death on display – for all to see.

In the aftermath of these events, there has been a lot of discussion surrounding the so-called obvious problems with our laws that allows these slaughters to take place. There has been much debate in regards to gun control, mental health and immigration issues and if we fix them, we will solve our problems. However, these arguments have yielded little in tangible results due to the strongly held beliefs on both sides of the issues whether the beliefs are a result of deeply held personal convictions or constitutional concerns.

This does not mean we should throw in the towel.

Even in the most controversial of subjects, there will always be room for complete agreement and in this arena (when our lives depend upon it), we will find concordance. One need not look any further than Pennsylvania to find a quirk in the law that endangers us all and we as rational citizens of this state can rectify the problem without raising our voices to high and losing sleep over the diminution of our rights.

In Pennsylvania, it is legal for one to own a silencer. As we all know from the movies, these devices muffle the sound of gunfire making it difficult or impossible to hear the gunshot or gunshots. Without this vital information, determining where the shooting is coming from and being able to protect oneself from the gunfire is compromised. Imagine if the shooters at Aurora or Newtown had their guns equipped with silencers and what the carnage could have been? Or even worse, a team of shooters employing their weapons with these devices – the damage would be incalculable. All one has to do to get a silencer in Pennsylvania is to see the county sheriff, pay a small fee for the application and pass a background check. In a blink of an eye, one has a legally possessed silencer – not too comforting a thought.

Now the oddity in the law is that as soon as you attach the silencer to the end of a firearm, it becomes illegal; so one may possess but not use a silencer. However, as we have seen the deterrent effect of illegality will not stop someone who is hell-bent on committing mass murder. Although, the ingenuity of the human mind will always find a way around laws to do that which they please, we should not make it easy on them by giving a clear path to the finish line.

Additionally, is the government not stealing from law-abiding citizens by accepting their money for an item that they may not legally use as it has no common lawful purpose as the one and only purpose it has is illegal? I guess one can use their silencer as a paper weight but wouldn’t it be simpler and cheaper to go to the local supply store?

As stated above, finding a consensus on how to deal with these mass murders is complex and contentious. Reaching an acceptable resolution has proved to be elusive. However, where common sense dictates that a law must be changed to protect us all, we must push forward. Allowing people to purchase and own a silencer in this commonwealth is such a case and I doubt that there will be a lot of pushback on repealing this dubious right.

And while the Pennsylvania General Assembly is taking a look at this law, they may want to take a peek at the law governing possession of body armor. It has a bit of a quirk in it too.

The Lincoln Legacy

English: Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States. Latviešu: Abrahams Linkolns, sešpadsmitais ASV prezidents. Српски / Srpski: Абрахам Линколн, шеснаести председник Сједињених Америчких Држава. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Steven Spielberg’s movie “Lincoln” tapped into a lot of sentiment and nostalgia for the Civil War era and the many foundational changes (for the better) that resulted from that conflict. The movie portrayed what strong principled leadership can accomplish and the movie itself was rewarded with twelve Oscar nominations, eventually taking home Best Actor award.

In the shadows of the Civil War, our Constitution was amended in a most fundamental way. Not only was slavery outlawed –an issue our Founding Fathers punted on – but the Constitution was also amended to insure that no governmental entity within the United States could deny a U.S. citizen their fundamental rights as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution nor take away life, liberty or property without due process of law. With the passage of the Civil War era constitutional amendments, our legal system finally lived up to the promises of the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal.

Our society took a while to catch up to these ideas but we have advanced so far that the current occupant of the White House is a black man. This shows what principled leadership can accomplish even after multiple generations have passed from the defining event.

Although not the only issue to drive the South into insurrection, slavery was the cause célèbre. Today we have many issues that divide us as a nation but there is one that stands above the rest and that is the issue of abortion.

Since being legalized in the controversial decision of Roe v. Wade, there have been over 56 million abortions performed in the United States. And most of those abortions involve minority babies; especially black children who make up a third of all abortions despite the fact blacks represent only about twelve percent of the population. One prominent black leader, Rev. Dr. Clenard Childress, Jr. has likened the black abortion rate to genocide.

Abortion in many circles is so accepted that it matters not when the abortion takes place, even if it is performed after the child has escaped the womb. In Philadelphia, a trial is taking place where employees of Dr. Gosnell spoke of the routine slaughter of children born alive after a failed abortion attempt. All it took was a snip of the spinal cord and little Johnnie or Janie was gone. Yet such news barely registers in many a mind as those children are not seen as human; thus, they are not entitled to those rights (such as life) enshrined in our Constitution.

This view is shared by President Obama. He is such an ardent supporter of abortion rights that when he was a state senator in Illinois, he voted against a bill to afford legal protections to children born alive from a botched abortion. To him, these children should be left to the hands of monsters like Dr. Gosnell despite the Fourteenth Amendment and the protection it affords all persons born in America. What would those slaves freed by the Civil War think of such a callous disregard to the suffering of those seen as less than human?

Monumental issues take monumental leaders to resolve. Abortion like slavery is such an issue. Our country during the Civil War had Lincoln. Who will fill the void in today’s battle against abortion?

Money well spent?

Human Sexuality? (Photo credit: kid_entropy)

There was a story out recently showing the astronomical costs of higher education. Over the past three or four decades, the cost of higher education has outpaced any other expenses one may face in life from housing to health care.  The ever-increasing spiral cost defies logic, it has increased 1,120 % over the past three decades and that number is not a typo. It is truly mind-boggling.

In 1998, I graduated from law school. tuition for my degree came out to about $60,000. Today, it is about $150,000. How is that possible, especially since the economy over the past six years has been stagnant?

A story out of Tennessee may provide the answer. It seems the school is providing a week-long soiree into the ever-burning questions over human sexuality such as bondage – and not any old bondage fetish but lesbian – along with other fun games such as condom scavenger hunts. And the total bill for this nonsense?

Twenty thousand.

If you add this stupidity to other acts that have been going on campus for the past thirty to forty years, it is no wonder why the cost of higher education is so out of whack with what is going on in the real world.

Our colleges need to get a grip on reality.