I don’t like guns. I have never shot a real gun (one that could kill something or someone). A BB gun once or twice as a kid, but that’s about it. I don’t mind guns. If someone feels the need to own guns for safety or hunting, I am okay with that. Gun collecting is good also. But the selling and owning of semi-automatic and automatic weapons are a different story. There is only one use these weapons have, killing large numbers of living beings in as short amount of time as possible. Maybe the military needs these weapons, though in today’s military there is probably much better technology available.

Would outlawing these types of guns cause the loss of freedom for our cititzens? Sure would! I don’t care about that particular loss. How about the argument that only criminals will have guns? I am not sure of the percentages but I doubt most criminals carry around automatic weapons with or without bump stocks. Most guns used in a violent manner are hand guns and hunting rifles. It is the mass murders that I am going after here. Our gun death rate is 40 times higher than in Britan. Japan had 1 gun death in the last year, the U.S. had 30,000. Our mental illness rate is not 40 times higher than Britain. So why is this considered a mental illness issue. Sure someone who would commit this type of mass murder is mentally ill, that doesn’t make all the mentally ill mass murderers. Background checks don’t seem to helping the problem. And we definitely need to beef up the background checks. And make waiting periods much, much longer.

How about we just don’t sell semi automatic or automatic weapons? Once again I’ll hear the cry “Then only the criminals will have the guns“. What if you pass a law that states if you are found in the possession of, or use in the course of a crime, a semi automatic or automatic weapon you are punished with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. First offense or twenty second offense, makes no difference. This may help deter the use of this type of weapon. Though it still won’t help with those that are probably going to kill themselves before they are caught. Or those that know they will be shot by police and don’t care. But if they can’t buy the weapons in the first place at least we stop those that might be gearing up now.

How many times have I heard “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people“. Not an easy line to argue with. But…If people can’t get the guns then people can’t kill people, at least with guns. Many other ways will be used but we are talking guns here and now.

Yes stricter gun laws take away our freedom. At least our freedom to the right to bear arms. What about the freedom to live without fear? What about our freedom to listen to music, pray in our churches, synagogues and mosques, play baseball, dance all night long, attend classes? The fact that people in this country can legally own weapons designed to kill large numbers takes away the freedom of peace in our lives.

Let’s finally make a stand, make a choice, make a decision. Are we to allow this type of weapon to continue to take lives? Or will we finally turn a corner and see that gun laws are a necessary (and maybe painful) truth in this day and age?

Let’s look closely at Australia (2 decades of declining gun violence), Britain (a constant example of how lack of citizen gun ownership works), Japan (where it is so against the culture that even the criminal elements forsake the use of guns). Maybe we can learn something, take our head of our asses, and become a truly civilized country.

Fortunately I don’t need to! In today’s world of hatred and tension it is getting harder and harder to imagine a world where we all meander down the same path of peace. You can see it everywhere, not just in the streets or hallways of America. It seems that every corner of the globe (hard to have corners on a globe I know) has it’s conflicts. Nationalism has raised its ugly head and taken over so many leaders throughout the world, none more evident than here at home. The assumption that we, as a nation, are superior to other countries is proving more difficult to espouse. While our President whittles, or maybe slashes, away at our founding ideals, other countries are brushing off their sleeves to remove the dust of our past. And while our country is in decline morally and politically the thoughts of a future for our younger generations are dimming.

Then, all at once, a child is born. A little girl who brings such joy into my life that my hopes and dreams have hopes and dreams! She is not anyone most of you will ever know. But at this moment she is the light of my life. Just as my own children have been since the day they were born. A new life, born out of my own lineage. One that can carry on the promise of greatness that this country has held for so many for so long. She may not be famous or infamous, she may not be a leader or a follower, but she will be what contributes to me fighting for a better world in which she can flourish.

May I introduce you to:

Frances Hazel Goodman-Becker – Better known to me as Frankie H

Remember that name. She may be all it takes to bring us all to that path of peace! Of course she doesn’t know it yet!

May your day be bright and have an inspiration such as mine.

While I doubt that many of you don’t have an opinion on the continuing kneeling, sitting and not attending during the National Anthem during NFL games, you can be sure that I have one. Wow, there are a lot of negatives in that sentence. And now you’ll just have to read about it. Admit it, you have to read on don’t you?

I am one person who really respects our flag and believe that standing is proper way to spend the few minutes of time during which the National Anthem is playing. I am also one person who really respects the rights of others to protest and to state their beliefs any way they want. If kneeling before a football game is the way they want to get their point across, so be it. I have heard and read that the players are just employees and they do not have the right to free speech if it affects the company they work for. In this case this is absolutely ridiculous. NFL players may be employees of their teams but they are also public personas that the teams cannot due with out. Players who wish to protest racial injustice in American life should be applauded for their behavior not ridiculed. 

Our esteemed leader (?) has tweeted and ranted about how we should boycott and/or the players should be fired. This is ludicrous. Our boycott would not have any effect on the players. They would still get paid, it’s the teams that would suffer. If you fire the players then, again, the teams suffer and this time so do the fans. No one wins. President Trump has proven once again that he and his followers do not support the rights of many Americans. And neither do they support the rights of any marginalized person in the U.S. The administration seems to be on the side of racism and bias!

I saw a quote today from Peter Malnati, a professional golfer. “I stand for freedom. I stand for ‘justice for all’. I stand for equality, for empathy and for compassion. I kneel to hubris and greed. Therefore, I take a knee for the flag that represents this administration. Not because I don’t love this country, but because I do.”

I wish I could have said it so eloquently (and you probably wish I could have too!).