Sarah Brady: 30 years after the Reagan shooting, gun violence still reigns

[alp227]

Sarah Brady, wife of former WH Press Secy. James Brady, wrote this opinion piece for The Washington Post 30 years after James was shot during an unsuccessful assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. She chairs the James Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Sometimes I remember the early days of my life with Jim Brady, a man possessed of so much intelligence, wit and charm. There was the vivacious Washington life we shared, Jim’s rise to White House press secretary and the laughter of our toddler reverberating through our home.

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that it’s been 30 years since a mentally ill man tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan because of a romantic figment of his imagination. On March 30, 1981, a gunman was able to fire six shots from a .22-caliber pistol, wounding the president, a Secret Service agent, a police officer — and seriously injuring my husband, with a gunshot to the head.

It’s hard to believe how much our lives changed in those few seconds.

The effects of the shooting spree linger with us still. Jim was left partially paralyzed and moves primarily with the aid of a wheelchair. He undergoes physical therapy several times a week. His speech is slightly slower, but his intelligence and wit are as quick and powerful as lightning.

Full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/30_years_after_the_reagan_shooting_gun_violence_still_reigns/2011/03/28/AFEpxEyB_story.html

[VoteProgressive]

1. I agree gun violence is a bad thing and out of control.....

and that is why the honest people need them also.

We need to stop the bad guys from being the only ones armed.

Thanks!

[cleanhippie]

3. But its not.

out of control, that is. Gun violence is at a low, hardly out of control.

[VoteProgressive]

4. Come on, we have more gun deaths than almost any civil country.......

I am pro CCW but do not try to act like this country does not have a LOT of gun killings. I know the world wide stats.

[cleanhippie]

5. Compared to what it was when her husband was shot?

Its at its lowest in 40 years and continues to decline. Not saying its great, but it is and continues to improve.

[VoteProgressive]

6. It is much lower but still damn high compared to most other countries.....

Our murder rate is horrible. No arguing it. And our percentage of deaths by gun is horrible also.

Thus the need for CCW.

[spin]

7. There is a good possibility that allowing honest people to own and carry guns ...

is of the main factors that has caused the decrease in the violent crime rate.

If Sarah Brady had her way, guns would be banned and if the violent crime rate skyrocketed we would have definite proof.

This would be foolish.

[VoteProgressive]

8. I agree honest people need guns at this point. I am pro-ccw, but no one can say this....

country does not have a murder rate problem compared to most modern countries. And our percentage of murders by gun is one of the highest in the world.

No way that gun control can work at this point. So the good guys like you and me deserve to carry them also.

[PavePusher]

10. Honest people...

should always be allowed to have any guns they want.... because honest people are not the problem.

[spin]

17. Our murder rate by firearms is high compared to other countries ...

because firearms are rare in those countries while we have 300 million in ours. Not surprising. If we banned and confiscated firearms, we would not see a tremendous drop in our murder rate because honest responsible people are not the main problem. For the most part, criminals misuse firearms and would still have them even if all the honest owners turned theirs in. In fact, the firearm related murder rate would skyrocket as the criminals would no longer fear armed citizens.

It's always difficult to compare crime rates between countries as demographics differ so much. Cultural differences also count. Our culture is VERY diverse. We are also fighting a failed drug war and many of the murders in our nation are caused by drug gangs fighting over turf. Many states in our nation which are the same size as countries in Europe have a lower murder rate than many European nations do.

[Starboard Tack]

26. Which states have lower gun homicide rates than any European nation?

Or just murder rates

[X_Digger]

30. Here are some interesting comparisons..

Just happened to be looking at these numbers when reading this thread..

Murder rate per 100,000 residents, 2009
http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/data/table_04.html

Idaho...........1.4
Minnesota.......1.4
Utah............1.3
Iowa............1.1
Vermont.........1.1
New Hampshire...0.8


List of countries by intentional homicide rate per 100,000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate


Liechtenstein.....2.8
Finland...........2.5
Bulgaria..........2.3
Romania...........2.3
Czech Republic...1.94
Belgium..........1.82
Luxembourg.......1.45
Hungary..........1.38
Ireland..........1.35
France...........1.31
Australia.........1.3

[TheWraith]

22. Yes, it's bad, but perspective is needed.

We have a lot of murders, yes. But our intentional homicide rate is also BELOW the worldwide average, and far below our own record highs.

That said, the way to drop our murder rate drastically is to legalize drugs. The large majority of murders in the US are from gangs fighting over control of the drug trade. And to reduce poverty, thus eliminating the supply of poor, desperate people the gangs prey on for foot soldiers.

[Hangingon]

23. A quote I ran across

"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country,"
--Mayor Marion Barry, Washington , DC .

[aikoaiko]

16. His claim is that gun violence is not "out of control"

at dictionary.com

Main Entry: out of control
Part of Speech: adj
Definition: not under management or direction; unmanageable or wild

I think gun violence is being managed and directed even if it is true that we still have higher rates than other countries. Gun violence is not unmanageable and it is not wildly increasing as one might expect if it were "out of control".

[sharesunited]

9. Guns as solution to guns is trap. Don't fall for it.

[Straw Man]

12. Do the right thing: take one for the team.

[rrneck]

21. I saw what you did there

:rofl:

[Atypical Liberal]

24. So what is the proper solution to a gun?

If you are faced with an assailant armed with a gun, what is the proper solution if not a gun?

What if you are just faced with an armed assailant who wants to beat you up or stab you? What is the proper solution then?

[cleanhippie]

2. Actually, Sarah is totally wrong.

Gun violence as at its lowest levels since here husband was shot, all the while gun ownership is at an all time high.


Funny thing, those pesky facts.

[Hoyt]

14. Incidences of many diseases are at lower levels than past -- but I would still avoid exposure.

[Remmah2]

15. Crawling into a cave is a way to avoid pathogen contact.

The method has a lot in common with gun control politics.

[spin]

19. Sarah is often totally wrong. Facts are not important to her...

Emotion is. I feel sorry for her and I understand she had a tragedy in her life caused by a person with a severe mental problem and a firearm. That tragedy has understandably effected her reasoning. She will never understand or admit that firearms can be used legitimately for self defense and therefore to save lives as well as misused to murder or injure.

[VoteProgressive]

11. I feel a little bad for her......

Had to have been a tough life and I am sure her heart was in the right place! It is just that there was no way to stop gun violence by banning guns. Her intentions were good, just impossible to reach!

[Blown330]

13. The path to Hell...

...is paved with good intentions.

[DonP]

18. She could have opted for addressing mental health issues

How much more effective could she have been if she had decided to confront the base cause of the shooting that injured her husband and others, unrecognized and untreated mental health issues.

Hinckley's parents, teachers and a raft of others, just like with Jared Lougner in Arizona and Cho at V Tech, recognized serious issues with the person and did nothing about it because they weren't sure what to do, or just didn't want to hurt their future prospects, like Cho's advisor.

If Sara Brady had, maybe by now we'd have a resolution on how and when to include all those mental health records in the NICS data base. As it is, we're just starting now to wrestle with that through the ACLU, AMA and the NRA all trying to find a solution that works to protect the privacy and medical records of people, not restrict the rights of the general population, but at the same time stop people with serious mental health issues from buying a gun.

Instead, for whatever reason, she decided to go after the specific tool the shooter used, a cheap .22 caliber revolver.

I have to balance my sympathy for the injuries her husband and others suffered with the knowledge that, through her efforts, a large body of people were disarmed from protecting themselves for years. That's a consequence we'll never be able to measure quantitatively.

[Atypical Liberal]

25. Precisely.

This is also why the "hi-cap" red herring rings false.

Next they'll be after .22 six-shooters.

[benld74]

20. I BELIEVE in the RIGHT to BARE ARMS!!! There, I said it,,,,,

[Starboard Tack]

27. And legs!

[petronius]

28. OK, but midriffs are another story - we need licensing and training for people

who want to bare those...

[RSillsbee]

29. And I believe in the right to arm bears NT

[Euromutt]

31. If only handguns had been illegal in D.C. at the time

Oh that's right, they were. Fat lot of good that did.

Well, I'll see your Reagan assassination attempt and raise you a Pim Fortuyn and a Theo van Gogh, both of whom were shot and killed despite living in a country which for over eighty years had had some of the tightest gun control laws in Europe. If gun control laws are the causal factor in preventing assassinations, how come those two are dead?