After the Jovan Belcher murder/suicide, I had the following discussion on Facebook with my friend, fellow Murrow-ite, New Yorker, and blogger, Chris Cataudella. Please read and discuss.
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So, all the articles you posted on gun control not being the issue in the Belcher crimes reminds me of a really smart thing some really smart lady once wrote…
“…people who use abortion as a cheap and easy fix for their irresponsible behavior (if such people exist) are presenting symptoms of much deeper societal ills than the fact that safe and legal abortions are available to them. Just like people who use guns in an irresponsible, devastating way are reflective of a much deeper ill than the fact that guns are legal.”
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If we look at this whole thing from a sociological standpoint, it breaks down like this:We (as a people) don’t wish to look at the deep seeded reasons behind the rise of violence in this country. We blame anything we can NOT to look at the bigger picture. Such as in this case, we have a clear cut issue of domestic violence. The fact that the weapon used was a gun is the focal point being made by certain parties to further their own agenda. However, through the fog of the media blitz, we need to focus on the fact that whatever the object used to murder this woman, the real issue is the domestic abuse. This topic seems to still be a sore spot, and yes, I would think that women should be concerned with that more than ever.If the media and “powers that be” choose to focus solely on the weapon used to commit the crime, then where is the understanding and ability to solve the actual crime?
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Chris Cataudella
Whether this guy chose his fists, a car, a baseball bat, what does it matter?Where is the defense of women as a whole?For instance, Let’s say this is Great Britian <sic> and there are NO legal handguns….the guy pulls a cricket bat out and pummels the wife then leaps out the window to his death.What do you do? Say “If there was no cricket bat – the two of them would still be alive today!” Because, really – that’s what you’re saying…And if I were a woman I would be fucking pissed that the media is poo-poo-ing this whole thing and focusing on the gun. And that’s my expanded rant on that.one ultra right winger once wrote this –I could kill ten people driving my SUV to the ballpark, but no one is trying to ban baseball bats or cars. -
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Aliza Worthington
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I feel like shit. because that was a great Aliza/Chris combined blog post. Copy & paste, and blog it.
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make believe. say something like – I asked my republican friend who just happens to be a gun owner what he thought…
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Why don’t you write it? All I did was quote myself in the beginning and agree with you from that point on…
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because it needs to be written by a woman. I’m just another guy with a gun to alot of the anti-gunners.
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That’s funny, I think it needs to be written by a man. More powerful when a man comes out against violence against women. Urge congress to pass VAWA, and really take it somewhere.
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right – but if I write it – I look like I’m cow-towing to the media pressure as an excuse to keep my guns…If you wrote it as a question & answer thing, it would look more honest, i think..
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Something else I just realized…if this is the same so-called “liberal” media bias” concerning gun control, and it truly is part of the liberal agenda, where is that same liberal agenda concerning women’s rights?Isn’t that what the Dems won the election on?“The War on Women”. Wouldn’t this be case in point?Just my $.02.
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Plenty of people are pushing back, saying guns weren’t the issue. Except for Costas and the other guy, I haven’t seen much upheaval about gun control come from this.Though, admittedly, I haven’t been watching much news.
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No, its been out there. The Brady Campaign…the Violence Policy Center…the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence…they’re all over it. Unfortunately, they get a macabre kick out if these events..And don’t forget, Costa and the other guy are part of the NBC network…they do so much anti-gun programming as well as the ultra-left MSNBC…they’re so diametrically opposite to fox news, its like night and day…Not that I care much for fox news either…
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Is fox news framing it as a domestic violence issue?FWIW, I think Costa was out of line.
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He was out of line. He gets paid for sports analysis. And paid well, I might add.Yes fox is framing it that way.Unfortunately, they’re really not taken seriously by the middle anymore…
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I agree. Fox hasn’t been a bastion of women’s rights support.One of their commentators said of the situation that women should make better choices –
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I agree. And it destroys any credibility on the things they may actually be right on.
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In effect, the line Costas and Whitlock are toeing is the theory that ordinary people in the presence of guns turn into slaughtering butchers but revert to normal when the weapon is removed. If this were the case, I can’t begin to imagine the carnage that would occur at every gun show and gun store in the country. And the same goes for school shootings.In spite of waiting periods, background checks, finger printing, government forms, etc., guns today are too readily available, which is responsible for recent school shootings. In the 1940’s, 1950’s and1960’s, anyone could buy guns at hardware stores, army surplus stores, gas stations, variety stores, Sears mail order, no waiting, no background check, no fingerprints, no government forms and there were no school shootings.
Doesn’t anyone see the bigger picture here?
What a love fest!
Hmmmm, Chris. Bigger picture? Hasn’t TV glamorized gun usage since the 40’s-60’s? My point here is that it wasn’t mainstream as it is today.