(Foto: Larry W. Smith/dpa)
by Phaedra Behrent , Poet, Reseracher
Then my musing continues on to the Declaration of Independence and all of the people across America that will be spending their day celebrating, drinking beer and having BBQs;
Houses and gardens adorned with red, white and blue bunting, flapping in the breeze. Star spangled banners flying from every pole and post, hanging from windows and painted on the faces of children.
I am not an American, I am sure that they are proud of their country for many reasons. For me, as a non-native, when I think of the Declaration, the first thing that comes to my mind is a ‘persons right to bear arms’!
I am sure that the world was a very different place in 1776, people would have faced many hardships and trials different to those that we face today. We must all agree that times change, people adapt, our needs progress and develop along with our changing lifestyles.
Today, the way we live now, I do not see the need to have a gun. People seem to own them to protect themselves from other people who own them.
Is this not the very definition of a ‘vicious circle’?
Admittedly there would be a small number of places where you may need a firearm to protect yourself from animals such as bears, alligators and Cougars, to name just a few. However, that said, I am sure that there are few dangerous animal predators in large urban areas.
I know that some people will be thinking that most guns are used to protect people’s lives rather than to take them. I have no doubt that this is indeed the case. The issue I have with that statement is this, were these people being protected from other people with guns?
I suspect that in most cases the answer to this question would be a resounding YES.
I am sure that there is not a single person alive today who would not agree that the loss of a child, is without doubt, the most heartbreaking thing to have to endure. Everybody is somebody’s child!
There are hundreds of thousands of people mourning the loss of their children every minute of every day all over the world. When you live in a country that supports everybody’s right to own a weapon, that fear must surely be increased many fold.
How many precious people have to be killed before the citizens of America will realise that, their right to bear arms, is now their biggest wrong?
See: Phaedra Behrent.- A Shakespearean Sonnet, For the Survivors of the Genocided Armenians