Future of Democratic Party - views

[1sokkermom]

<p>lorelei,</p>

<p>The candidates have initiated some vitriolic attacks of their own. I think that their attacks are certainly open to discussion in this forum. This is an open discussion thread that one voluntarily participates in or not. :o</p>

[vicariousparent]

<p>lorelei2702: I am sorry that you have unpleasantness at home. I have never been offended by your posts even though I have disagreed. I like your suggestion for a time-out on the political stuff here. I am going to try and stay out of it for at least another month unless some huge event occurs.</p>

[alwaysamom]

<p>christcorp, sorry, but I don’t find it “uncommon” when there are approximately 500,000 non-fatal gun related violent crimes a year, in addition to approximately 10,000 gun related murders. Sensationalized or not, as you say, those 10,000 people are just as dead. That isn’t emotion, that’s fact. I do agree with you about one thing, no U.S. presidential candidate will ever have the courage to address this issue in any meaningful way, and that’s why we will continue to grieve with and pray for families like the Carson and Burk families. Tragedies like this will continue to recur with regularity.</p>

[simba]

<p>“Says the man whose hatred of Obama has been palpable on these forums for months now”</p>

<p>Examples please…I just think Obama is not worthy and ready to lead the nation. If you find that as hatred, stay on Kool-aid.</p>

<p>Compare what I wrote about Obama and what you wrote about Hillary side by side, and my words pale in comparision to your penmanship.</p>

[janieblue]

<p>From Harvard Gazette, dated 2000:</p>

<p>

Recent accounts of young school students shooting each other has sent a shiver through the nation; journalists call the killings an “epidemic” and legislators have begun debates on new gun control laws. As tragic as these homicides are, however, they represent only the tip of an iceberg of gun deaths in the United States. Every year, more than 30,000 people are shot to death in murders, suicides, and accidents. Another 65,000 suffer from gun injuries.</p>

<p>“The total number of school shootings each year is typically far less than one day’s toll attributable to firearms in the United States,” notes David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Research and Control Center. “Defective Firestone tires may have killed 103 people over a number of years, but firearms kill about 85 people every day in this country.”

[System</a> tracks gun deaths: Details are being collected on murders, suicides in the U.S.](<a href=“http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2000/09.28/firearms.html]System”>http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2000/09.28/firearms.html)</p>

<p>

Gunshot wounds inpact severely on the criminal justice as well as health care systems. Some basic statistics are important in understanding the magnitude and severity of the social and economic burden to the U.S.</p>

<p>In the U.S. for 2001, there were 29,573 deaths from firearms, distributed as follows by mode of death: Suicide 16,869; Homicide 11,348; Accident 802; Legal Intervention 323; Undetermined 231.(CDC, 2004) This makes firearms injuries one of the top ten causes of death in the U.S. The number of firearms-related injuries in the U.S., both fatal and non-fatal, increased through 1993, but has since declined steadily.(CDC, 2001) However, firearms injuries remain a leading cause of death in the U.S., particularly among youth (CDC, 2004) . . . </p>

<p>The issue of “home defense” or protection against intruders may well be misrepresented. Of 626 shootings in or around a residence in three U.S. cities revealed that, for every time a gun in the home was used in a self-defense or legally justifiable shooting, there were four unintentional shootings, seven criminal assaults or homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides (Kellermann et al, 1998). Over 50% of all households in the U.S. admit to having firearms (Nelson et al, 1987). In another study, regardless of storage practice, type of gun, or number of firearms in the home, having a gun in the home was associated with an increased risk of firearm homicide and suicide in the home (Dahlberg, Ikeda and Kresnow, 2004). Persons who own a gun and who engage in abuse of intimate partners such as a spouse are more likely to use a gun to threaten their intimate partner. (Rothman, et al) It would appear that, rather than beign used for defense, most of these weapons inflict injuries on the owners and their families.

</p>

<p>And bringing it back to health care:</p>

<p>

A 1994 study revealed the cost per injury requiring admission to a trauma center was over $14,000. The cumulative lifetime cost in 1985 for gunshot wounds was estimated to be $911 million, with $13.4 billion in lost productivity. (Mock et al, 1994)

</p>

<p>[FIREARMS</a> TUTORIAL](<a href=“http://library.med.utah.edu/WebPath/TUTORIAL/GUNS/GUNSTAT.html]FIREARMS”>FIREARMS TUTORIAL)</p>

<p>You can rationalize all you want, but the facts are there.</p>

[Christcorp]

<p>janie; as requested by others, let’s leave this thread talking about the political movement. I would be happy to discuss and/or debate you on gun issues. if you start a separate thread, consider me there.</p>

[LaxAttack09]

<p>To all those that want to ban guns: I would be all for it if I could be assured that everbody, including the criminals, couldn’t get them. That being said criminals will always be able to get their hands on guns…and as long as they can get them I want to be able to get them. That’s the heart of my argument -_-</p>