Today's shooting of Arizona congresswoman, Gabrielle Gifford, at a political rally outside a grocery store in Tucson is shocking. Although she took a bullet in the head, the 40 year-old democrat looks likely to make a miraculous recovery. Time will tell how badly injured she has been. But six people attending the rally were trajically killed, including a 9 year-old girl who was actually born on the very day of the infamous 9-11 attacks. And 17 others were injured by a single gunman who reportedly shot indiscriminately and with no clear motive.
Gun violence in the United States is an intensely debated political issue in the Unted States, which is hardly surprising given that an average of 30,000 are fatally shot each year. Shootings are hardly is hardly new in the United States, with the assasinations of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, and of Presidents James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy. High profile gun violence incidents, such as the assassinations of Rober Kennedy, Martin Luther King and, more recently, the Columbine High School massacrem the Beltway sniper attaacks and the Virginia Tech massacre have further fueled debate over gun policy.
While gun crime is not unique to America, the world's 'superpower' has more gun victims than any other nations. There's an average of 30,000 gun deaths in the US each year. And yet there is a strong lobby to protect people's right, which is ridiculously enshrined in the constitution, to own a gun. How crazy is that?
I find the right for ordinary civilians to carry weapons to be absolutely abhorent. Every effort must be made to reduce the number of weapons available. Unfortunately, there are far too many guns in evidence in Israel. But this is because of the tense security situation. I sincerely hope that by the time you get to read my blog, my darling Yael, that there will be no need for such horrible weapons to be carried anymore in Israel.
As for the US, let's hope that Congresswoman Gifford fully recovers from here injuries and that the shock of this awful shooting will act as a wake up call for America. Guns should be eliminated from society.
Grandpa Jonathan
Prague, Czech Republic
