The New KKK

The buzz word of the weekend was apparently 'guns' as I read multiple stories about guns and their dangers and how we should control them.

Bob Costas' rant at halftime of last night's football game is the hot topic today. I missed it myself, but I've been reading about it today. Apparently Bob, quoting Kansas City-based writer Jason Whitlock said that the NRA is the new KKK, as no white person has ever been killed with a gun in the history of America. Stunningly, he also said that "if Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would still be alive today."

Are. You. Serious? Have you ever known someone who was suffering from severe mental problems? It doesn't sound like Bob or Jason Whitlock ever have. I have. And let me tell you, the absence of a gun is no deterrent of deep mental disillusions. As if any person suffering from such problems, when unable to find a gun, is simply cured and suffers no more thoughts of suicide or violence. As someone who's known people that have attempted suicide, Jovan Belchers actions are disturbing, sad, and tragic. But to place the onus on guns instead of the actual problems this man was having belittles his problems and distracts from the real issues that we should be talking about. It does a tremendous disservice to anyone suffering from mental anguish if we ignore the person and focus on their actions. And if you really believe that if all guns were removed from the world that murders and suicides would never happen again...well then you're an idiot. There's really nothing more to be said than that.

Another story that caught my attention was the arrest of an 11-year old boy on the Lower East side of Manhattan that took place last week. The boy's crime: he had a black, plastic prop gun in his backpack. Apparently the boy was supposed to be a cowboy in a play at an East Village theater and the theater had given him the prop gun. Well...we can't have children carrying around fake guns, so the school called the police, the boy was handcuffed and hauled off downtown. That'll teach him!

I mean...can our society get any stupider? It was a prop. It wasn't even a BB gun, which the school claimed it was. But to have the cops handcuff him and drag him off to the police station?? Dudes can sell drugs on the street corner and not get such treatment! But an 11-year old with a fake gun, well he is a danger to us all! The boy was also suspended and forced to attend an "alternative-learning facility" in Harlem for two weeks. So basically an otherwise innocent kid was forced into a group of kids with actual behavioral problems. Brilliant.

The child is now trumatized, afraid to go back to school and scared of cops. Awesome. If only they could start arresting kids for eating candy, then they might finally be able to end all the problems in New York City.