Every once in a while I awake from my stupor and become frightenly aware of the obscene volume of gun violence that takes place in the United States every day.

This past week in South Florida we experienced a group of thugs rushing into two Dunkin Donut shops, robbing the patrons at gunpoint before needlessly shooting several victims before leaving. One was an 84 year old man, shot in the face with a shot gun for no apparent reason.

When asked, after being caught, why they killed without provocation, one perpetrator responded by saying, “I was trying to up my body count!” Why? ….”for street cred,” (meaning credibility)

After reading about this story in my local newspaper, I continued to peruse the paper wondering how many other “gun-related” stories were written that day. I usually do not read such stories nor give them much thought as I have become ‘deaf, dumb and blind’ to the violence in my community, a coping skill that has unfortunately been adopted by most people.

GUNS, GUNS and MORE GUNS……Far too many guns that is needed for any purpose you can imagine. And what has been the natural outcome of our over-abundance of guns? GUN VIOLENCE!

WATCH – HERE’S ONE SOLUTION

 Gun Statisitcs in our Schools:

• Between 1994 and 1999, there were 220 school associated violent events resulting in 253 deaths - - 74.5% of these involved firearms.
• Between 1979 and 2001, gunfire killed 90,000 children and teens in America.
•  In one year, more children and teens died from gunfire than from cancer, pneumonia, influenza, asthma, and HIV/AIDS combined.
• In 1998-99 academic year, 3,523 students were expelled for bringing a firearm to school. 
• The rate of firearm deaths among kids under age 15 is almost 12 times higher in the United States than in 25 other industrialized countries combined 

America and Gun Violence:

•  Every day, more than 80 Americans die from gun violence
  
• American kids are 16 times more likely to be murdered with a gun, 11 times more likely to commit suicide with a gun, and nine times more likely to die from a firearm accident than children in 25 other industrialized countries combined
• Americans for Gun Safety produced a 2003 report that reveals that 20 of the nation’s 22 national gun laws are not enforced. 

• Studies show that 1 percent of gun stores sell the weapons traced to 57 percent of gun crimes.

  Terrorists have purchased firearms at gun shows, where unlicensed sellers are not currently required to conduct background checks or to ask for identification 

AROUND the BLOGOSPHERE:

Lubbock Left » Blog Archive » Guns and Gun Violence - Guns and Gun Violence. A report obtained by the Washington Post shows that data from the BATF — the first time any such data has been released to the public — shows that:. states with lax gun laws have the most gun crime, and ...

John Rosenthal: US Gun Violence by the Numbers - US Gun Violence by the Numbers - The Huffington Post.

The Reaction: Gun violence at Toys "R" Us - Gun violence at Toys "R" Us. By Michael J.W. Stickings So... yeah. In my last post, written just a couple of hours ago, a SOTA post on the trampling death at Wal-Mart, I wrote this: "And don't think it was just the 2000 or so people who ...

Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence - As the nation's largest national, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence, the Brady Campaign and the Brady Center are dedicated to creating an America free from gun violence, where all Americans ...

Guns Don’t Kill People, Bullets Do - A sobering reminder: eight children and teenagers are shot and killed in an average day in this country, and 48 more are wounded, according to the Brady Centre to Prevent Gun Violence. This is a Youtube vid of the father-son trip ...