Troubled by. . .

1.  Gun deregulation to the extreme places more weapons on the streets of cities and in the hands of extremists.  People die.

2.  Evictions allowed in Texas ahead of national/federal guidelines.  People move into homelessness.

3.  Politicizing vaccines and their delivery.  People get sick and paranoid.

4.  Needlessly, and dishonestly disputed,national election results.  People lose trust in democracy.

5. The "Big Lie" that Joe Biden "stole" the eleection.  People doubt our system.  

6.  Vote recounts ad nausem.  Wasted funds.  More doubt and division.

7. Voter suppression legislation passes in many states.  People ask why worry?   

8.  Texas Legislature does NOTHING to promote, discuss or consider racial equity strategies.  People feel abandoned. 

9. Bizarroo conspiraccy theories disseminated by the so-called "Q anon" crowd.  People are duped.  

10.  The more than 100 U. S. House members who voted against election results and refused to seat their electors. . . .on January 6!  Faith in our union lost.  

11.  January 6, 2021.  New precident for rebellion.

12.  Violence rooted in  racism perpitrated against people of color.  Fear spreads. 

Troubled by all of these things and more for my own sake and that of my family, not to mention the vulnerable impoverished.  

Strange times, right?  Possibly not.  Thus, I remain troubled. 

Public sold out!

National leaders need to listen to the public about simple, common sense gun control.

 Whatever the intention of the framers of the Second Amendment, I believe we can agree it did not include the right of mentally ill persons, violent criminals or people listed on a terrorist watch list to bear arms.

 Why, none of those people could even join a "well-regulated militia"!

 In keeping with that spirit, here's how the dollar bounces in the U. S. Senate.

Let me tell you, this behavior doesn't play well in the inner city where I live.

What's up with guns, anyway?

http://www.demandaplan.org/

This graphic video speaks for itself.

 No need to add a word.

Time now for action!

Guns and cities

I can't speak for people who reside in rural areas of our nation. 

However, I can speak from an urban context.

 The ready availability of guns, including semi-automatic weapons designed for military and law enforcement actions, destroys our confidence and sense of safety. Tragically, the presence of these weapons all too often destroys families and permanently disrupts lives.

These realities explain why the President's words during his state of the union speech last Tuesday night meant so much to me.

 How about you?

 

The violence must stop!

Anyone who lives in an urban neighborhood should be concerned about the sheer numbers of firearms and weapons that are present on the streets, in the traffic jams, the homes, the business and on countless persons we meet daily.

Clearly, we need a multi-faceted approach to deal with the violence that ruins so many lives every day.

 Gun control regulation will not be the total answer, but it must be part of any answer we come up with, and we need answers now.

 Let me know what you think of the video below.

 I hope you'll get involved in the effort to make our communities safer and more livable.

 

Gun Violence

Preventing Gun Violence in Our Nation

By Neera Tanden, Winnie Stachelberg, Arkadi Gerney, and Danielle Baussan | January 13, 2013

After last month’s senseless shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut—in which 20 children and 6 adults were shot and killed—we need to immediately address the gaps in our current law that enable mass shootings, as well as the everyday shootings that on average claim the lives of 33 Americans each day.

In this issue brief we recommend 13 legislative proposals and executive actions to prevent gun violence in our nation.

These actions are targeted in the following three key areas:

• Better background checks 
• Taking military-grade weapons off the streets and out of criminals’ hands 
• Better data, better coordination, and better enforcement 
•  We discuss these actions in further detail below.

To read the entire report click here.