Several thoughts from last Friday's news

By Jeff Orvis

It's been five days since many of us first heard the terrible news out of Newtown, CT, where 20 young children and six educators were executed at their school. In the days following this incident, the formerly peaceful New England community has been flooded with hundreds of media clamoring for some sort of fresh angle on this story. This many days later and it's still difficult to turn on a newscast without being reminded again what happened. I suspect an unfortunate fallout of all this might be a surge in the use of Ipods and satellite radio as we try to escape for at least a few minutes.

Almost immediately, the politicians and news-types have suggested that now may be a good time to begin a “conversation” on tighter gun laws in this country. Excuse me! A “conversation” is something you might do over the back fence in the morning with a neighbor. A “conversation” is something we might do with our fellow parishioners after church this Sunday.

No, that conversation ship sailed several years ago. It's time for any one of us who is sickened by what happened on Friday, in fact what may have happened as many as 70 times in our nation's schools since 1994 (according to research presented by David Letterman last night) to shout to the heavens, “We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!”

Growing up, I never had much of an interest in guns or hunting. I had friends who enjoyed going out with an older sibling or a father for a fall hunt and I saw nothing wrong with that. But for a time we lived next door to a family which included an older boy who had definite mental issues. He also had a love of firearms and I think he might still be serving time in the federal system for weapons violations. I still don't know how my sister and I survived those years.

It's time for immediate legislation to ban the manufacture and possession of rapid-fire weapons and ammunition clips that allow a person to fire off many rounds without reloading. The National Rifle Association would have you believe that if you take away those items, it would be a slippery slope and soon “they” would be knocking at your door to confiscate your pheasant and deer guns or that six-shot pistol you might keep by your bed for protection.

Pardon my language, but that's a load of crap!

The next time you have a “conversation” with a sportsman who tries to feed you this line, ask him or her when was the last time they felt the need to go hunting with a semi-automatic rifle or even a pistol with an extended ammunition clip.

The NRA is a powerful group that pours hundreds of thousands of dollars into the bank accounts of legislators on the state and federal level. I suspect much of their financing comes from membership dues and contributions from those who produce guns and ammo. In a tragic turn of events, some retailers and manufacturers have finally come to the realization that the continued manufacture and sale of some of these awful weapons of mass destruction may not be the wisest public relations move going forward.

In a way, I feel sorry for the NRA and its members. I suspect this association is getting a bad rap in the name of this misguided fear of some sort of possible total elimination of firearms in this country. It would seem that a group such as this would have plenty to do with protecting and increasing good hunting grounds as this country is increasingly becoming covered in concrete and development. It could also spend more resources in gun and hunting safety

Hopefully, when the contributions and the membership renewals begin to dwindle, the leadership of this organization might take the hint.

Another comment that has come from this event is a call for more funding for mental health care in this country. It seems like every year, our state government makes some rumblings about changing funding for mental health care. After living in Independence for more than 18 years, where a major mental health institute is located, I can tell you that this causes no small amount of trepidation until cooler heads prevail in Des Moines.

A horrible by-product of our continued involvement in wars in the Middle East are the thousands of mentally wounded soldiers who are returning home. This is certainly not the time to cut funding for mental health issues.

One last note on this subject: Some of my friends on Facebook made some comment that seemed to indicate that they believed that the reason why this happened in Connecticut was because we don't allow God in our schools. At the risk of offending some of those friends, this suggestion is more than a little ludicrous. If you don't believe God was there when those teachers risked their own lives to protect their precious students, you are WRONG! It is my firm belief and hope that those victims were immediately welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven and those left to remember them could take some comfort in that fact.

The memorial service held on Sunday night was so impressive in its diversity. Many religions were represented and the victims came from a variety of religious experiences. I firmly believe that God, in whatever form you might embrace, is at work in that community.

My fear is that if we allowed government-mandated religion in our public schools, the religion provided would be determined by those with the loudest voices in the community. In this era when we are all so concerned with bullying in our schools, what sort of persecution would some students who might not believe as the majority of their classmates be subjected to?

We are in the midst of holiday preparations and celebrations. We all unfortunately tend to get so caught up in the planning, preparing, etc. that it's easy to forget about peace on earth, good will toward all men. The outpouring of support from all over the world for Newtown has been tremendous. Those folks will still need our support and prayers long after the satellite trucks and TV cameras leave town.

Back on the soapbox

By Jeff Orvis

Hello faithful readers! It's been awhile since we last communicated and I have been collecting some random (some say weird) thoughts and questions. Here goes:

The other day, we commemorated 12-12-12, one of those strange days when all the numbers in the date line up. Some folks around the world waited for some monumental event at 12:12 p.m. While they were waiting for the end of the world, or at least a major earthquake, I was thinking about lunch.

Here in the Quads, a local couple celebrated the date and time with the birth of a daughter. The local TV news folks did the customary hospital interview and the family seemed really happy, especially since the father had to deliver his daughter when she decided to arrive early. While the focus should have been on the beautiful baby and her mother, I wonder how many other viewers were drawn to the appearance of the father. He had tattoos covering the visible upper parts of his body and more piercings in his face than I could count.

I realize that I officially became a member of the “over-the-hill club” more than nine years ago. But whenever I see anyone with a tattoo, especially a lot of them, or any piercings of the face, nose, lip, tongue, breasts...you get the idea...several questions come to mind like: “What were you thinking?” “Do you really think you improved your appearance or were you simply trying to draw attention to yourself?” For those of you who have piercings, how difficult is it for you to pass through airport security screenings?

As we are in the thick of the televised basketball season, we are being bombarded by the spectacle of tattooed players. What really puzzles me are those guys who have stories, full paragraphs, tattooed on their arms. If these guys are such good athletes, how often are they going to stand still long enough for us to read their vital messages carved on their bodies? What happens in five or 10 years when their bodies begin to change? Will these crucial messages become just black blemishes?

I've always had an aversion to needles and the only ink I've had on my skin was back in my newspaper days when I helped get the issues out by inserting and loading the finished product for delivery. I guess if I have to belong to a minority class, being a member of the non-tattooed class is okay for me.

Switching gears – How many of you are aware that the National Hockey League is currently in a labor dispute and the season is in serious jeopardy? Me either. No, I am aware of the dispute, but I must say that the only ice that concerns me is the ice I put in my tea each day. Maybe if I didn't think of an ice rink as a broken hip just waiting to happen, I would be more upset. Hockey can be an exciting sport and it's worth taking in an occasional game, either in person or on TV. But it's not like the end of NFL football or NASCAR, at least to a lot of us.

Because there are real hockey fans out there, as well as a few thousand folks who rely on the sport for their main source of income, let's hope the two sides can reach an agreement and some of the season can be saved.

On to a couple of more serious topics for a moment: Violence has reared its ugly head here in Iowa and across the country in recent days. The discovery the bodies of the two girls in Bremer County who disappeared from just outside of Waterloo this summer has ignited new rumblings for the reintroduction of the death penalty in Iowa.

Question: Why mar the memory of these two happy little girls with talk of taking other lives? Another question: Why is it that the most vocal proponents of death penalty legislation are the same ones who are so opposed to any form of abortion, including in the case of the life of the mother or rape or incest? Anyone else see the conflict here?

When the Kansas City Chiefs player killed his girlfriend and then committed suicide a couple of weeks ago, NBC's Bob Costas read a portion of an opinion piece from another journalist suggesting that this country is in the midst of a “gun culture.” It didn't take long for the gun nuts to call for his scalp. But Costas explained that he is not against the Second Amendment. But it just seems that the availability of certain guns (handguns for example) can lead to more violence, especially domestic violence.

When many athletes become pros and suddenly see a lot of money, their first thought may be that they have to buy a handgun for protection. Unfortunately, they may not stop to think that just because they're outstanding on the playing field or court, they may not have the mental or emotional maturity to deal with that sudden fame and fortune.

That's what Costas was saying. There's a big difference between the responsible hunter and some young men who gain instant wealth and may drop their game controllers and pick up a gun if they become angry or threatened.

The other recent act of violence happened in Oregon, where a young man allegedly stole an assault rifle, went into a shopping mall filled with holiday shoppers and opened fire with the weapon capable of firing several shots in rapid succession. What do you suppose the original gun owner was hunting with that kind of gun?

One more time: no matter what the National Rifle Association may lead you to believe, revisiting and revising the Second Amendment is not a threat to our civilization. If you are a hunter and you think you need to hunt with a multi-shot assault rifle, take up golf instead. If you think that assault rifle will protect you in the event of an attack from an enemy, odds are that enemy will have the drop on you or will have some sort of chemical weapon that trumps your rifle. If you think you can be safer by owning a handgun, at least have the common sense to take a gun course and don't be afraid to submit to a background check, including any past criminal history, as well as any history of mental illness.

Remember, when the Constitution was written, those who advocated the right to bear arms, those arms did not include a gun that can shoot dozens of bullets per minute.