Our niece gripped her cell phone, not believing the texts she got from her daughter, our grandniece, on November 30, 2021... She was hiding in a classroom, where her favorite teacher had just been shot outside the door, one of her best friends was shot (& just recently was released from ICU) and 4 others were fatally wounded. While trying desperately to sob quietly, she texted her mother that she loved her, and her little sister, just in case she didn't see them again. Oxford, Michigan will never be the same peaceful, cohesive little town in the outskirts of the Detroit Metro area.
Our family has always owned guns. Guns to hunt, guns for target shooting, guns that were family heirlooms, or cool, or old. Every kid was trained in the safe use of firearms. No one in this family has ever used their guns in anger, in a threatening manner, and all the kids in the family grew up knowing that the guns were for recreation, or putting meat in the freezer. That certitude has been shattered.
Our kids were raised to believe that you do NOT point a gun at anything you don't intend to eat. Our family values don't include cannibalism, so it goes without saying that no one in THIS family was ever suspected of being a menace to society. When the kids were younger, the guns all had trigger locks. Now they're all stored in a gun safe. Only one person has the combo. This is the type of gun ownership that the NRA originally was founded to encourage. Safe gun ownership and use, safe and responsible hunting, and safe and responsible storage. How it got this far out of control, only the NRA and the GOP know for sure.
This family heartily endorses the issuance of gun control laws, even if that means that we must relinquish some of our guns. It is more important to protect the public... men, women, and children... than it is for us to own "cool" guns.
We should build a memorial wall for all the innocent victims of gun violence who gave their lives to protect the Second Amendment. It should be in the style of the Vietnam memorial in DC, with all names and dates inscribed in the wall and be built next to the NRA's headquarters!
So many of my thoughts and outrage, I lived in Canada 🇨🇦 for 36 years, and it’s true not a perfect nation. But I never had any fear of being in a bar or nightclub wondering how many patrons were packing heat in Canada. The answer would be 0 handguns. In the United States conceal and carry permits are issued easily. They don’t ask you wife or girlfriend or employer if it’s ok. Feeling safe should be about feeling free. You would think more Americans would be jumping up for freedom. Less guns, more freedom. More guns less safe with less freedom. Americans should have the freedom and right to send they children to school without any fear of being shot!
If you love Freedom then you must get behind any organization promoting common sense gun reforms to make our community safer.
Non violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. - Thomas Edison
Violence begins on our plate in childhood. #LiveKindly
Last night on TV I saw a commercial for GLOCKS!!! There were a bunch of rednecks gathered at a shooting range: "Together we are stronger!" How low can this country go?
Thank you for writing this incredibly honest and very necessary message. I grew up in a country where guns and gun violence aren't really a thing, but my mind has been tortured for the past 24 years in the US with the absurd inevitability both those things represent in America. During all this time, I have never had a person agree with me on the simple fact that the second amendment needs to be eliminated. Not even the most liberal journalist would ever put it that bluntly. There was, and is, always only a tepid beating around the bush. And although you likely preach mainly to the choir here, and it'll take many a gun nut to die before real changes may happen, it was strangely soothing to finally hear an American say those things out loud. Be blessed forever, Michael Moore!
*Pretend* to be civil, men. You don't really have to be civil, or gentle, in terms of avoiding mass-shooting.
I think women's non-violent attitude is due not to their DNA but to their soul, or gender image. I am a female and have been attacked by both genders, more by females than by males. Interestingly, females do not attack me when males are around, unless the attack is undetectable, while males attack me whether females are around or not. To emulate "women's non-violent property", the traditional image of femininity, being gentle, should be emulated. For this reason, I love a smart and gentle man, like Michael Moore :)
Great article, Michael. I can't articulate how spot on this article is. I found the picture of the father and son in the gun shop very disturbing. The pictures of the victims of the Sandy Hook Massacre are still heartbreaking. As a country, we really need term limits in our government. I know this is an ongoing battle, but it seems to have been put on the back burner. I don't think it was ever intended to be a career.
This can happen if all Americans have the vote and vote. I wish those who consider themselves human could reason half as sensibly as Michael. I'm ready to give up my two 9mms if needed. Also I wish I could write 1/100th as clear and concise as you.
Also, if not included in up coming voter legislation, legislate that all Americans must register at the US Post Office for mandatory electoral duty when voting age. Like jury duty, but keep America's elections fair and safe from stop the steal A-holes. Anybody come to mind?
Our niece gripped her cell phone, not believing the texts she got from her daughter, our grandniece, on November 30, 2021... She was hiding in a classroom, where her favorite teacher had just been shot outside the door, one of her best friends was shot (& just recently was released from ICU) and 4 others were fatally wounded. While trying desperately to sob quietly, she texted her mother that she loved her, and her little sister, just in case she didn't see them again. Oxford, Michigan will never be the same peaceful, cohesive little town in the outskirts of the Detroit Metro area.
Our family has always owned guns. Guns to hunt, guns for target shooting, guns that were family heirlooms, or cool, or old. Every kid was trained in the safe use of firearms. No one in this family has ever used their guns in anger, in a threatening manner, and all the kids in the family grew up knowing that the guns were for recreation, or putting meat in the freezer. That certitude has been shattered.
Our kids were raised to believe that you do NOT point a gun at anything you don't intend to eat. Our family values don't include cannibalism, so it goes without saying that no one in THIS family was ever suspected of being a menace to society. When the kids were younger, the guns all had trigger locks. Now they're all stored in a gun safe. Only one person has the combo. This is the type of gun ownership that the NRA originally was founded to encourage. Safe gun ownership and use, safe and responsible hunting, and safe and responsible storage. How it got this far out of control, only the NRA and the GOP know for sure.
This family heartily endorses the issuance of gun control laws, even if that means that we must relinquish some of our guns. It is more important to protect the public... men, women, and children... than it is for us to own "cool" guns.
We should build a memorial wall for all the innocent victims of gun violence who gave their lives to protect the Second Amendment. It should be in the style of the Vietnam memorial in DC, with all names and dates inscribed in the wall and be built next to the NRA's headquarters!
mike,
such an exceptional writing on gun violence, ownership, control and elimination.
just another great example of who m moore really is. 👍
Brilliant Michael, brilliant! Such a well-reasoned piece.
So many of my thoughts and outrage, I lived in Canada 🇨🇦 for 36 years, and it’s true not a perfect nation. But I never had any fear of being in a bar or nightclub wondering how many patrons were packing heat in Canada. The answer would be 0 handguns. In the United States conceal and carry permits are issued easily. They don’t ask you wife or girlfriend or employer if it’s ok. Feeling safe should be about feeling free. You would think more Americans would be jumping up for freedom. Less guns, more freedom. More guns less safe with less freedom. Americans should have the freedom and right to send they children to school without any fear of being shot!
If you love Freedom then you must get behind any organization promoting common sense gun reforms to make our community safer.
Perhaps the sex that gives life, has a higher standard when it comes to taking life.
Non violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. - Thomas Edison
Violence begins on our plate in childhood. #LiveKindly
A brilliant and tragic synopsis of the gun violence in our country. Shame on us. Let us never stop fighting for gun control.
Last night on TV I saw a commercial for GLOCKS!!! There were a bunch of rednecks gathered at a shooting range: "Together we are stronger!" How low can this country go?
Thank you for writing this incredibly honest and very necessary message. I grew up in a country where guns and gun violence aren't really a thing, but my mind has been tortured for the past 24 years in the US with the absurd inevitability both those things represent in America. During all this time, I have never had a person agree with me on the simple fact that the second amendment needs to be eliminated. Not even the most liberal journalist would ever put it that bluntly. There was, and is, always only a tepid beating around the bush. And although you likely preach mainly to the choir here, and it'll take many a gun nut to die before real changes may happen, it was strangely soothing to finally hear an American say those things out loud. Be blessed forever, Michael Moore!
*Pretend* to be civil, men. You don't really have to be civil, or gentle, in terms of avoiding mass-shooting.
I think women's non-violent attitude is due not to their DNA but to their soul, or gender image. I am a female and have been attacked by both genders, more by females than by males. Interestingly, females do not attack me when males are around, unless the attack is undetectable, while males attack me whether females are around or not. To emulate "women's non-violent property", the traditional image of femininity, being gentle, should be emulated. For this reason, I love a smart and gentle man, like Michael Moore :)
While not totally sold on the wording of your 28th amendment, I pretty much agree with everything you just said. I'll be glad if it passes.
Beautiful, honest piece. Thank you.
Great article, Michael. I can't articulate how spot on this article is. I found the picture of the father and son in the gun shop very disturbing. The pictures of the victims of the Sandy Hook Massacre are still heartbreaking. As a country, we really need term limits in our government. I know this is an ongoing battle, but it seems to have been put on the back burner. I don't think it was ever intended to be a career.
This can happen if all Americans have the vote and vote. I wish those who consider themselves human could reason half as sensibly as Michael. I'm ready to give up my two 9mms if needed. Also I wish I could write 1/100th as clear and concise as you.
Also, if not included in up coming voter legislation, legislate that all Americans must register at the US Post Office for mandatory electoral duty when voting age. Like jury duty, but keep America's elections fair and safe from stop the steal A-holes. Anybody come to mind?
Love you, MM
Active Shooter Class and Economics 101
by Jack Burgess
(Dedicated to the ghost of Ayn Rand)
I went to the head of the class.
I could get out of my seat, my comfort zone,
pick up and move desks toward the door,
so that my friend who had a gun could keep it,
so that the Acme gun folks could keep their profits,
so that frightened politicians could keep their seats,
I gave up mine and crawled under it,
lay on the floor in the dust,
wondering how we got here.
I went to the head of the class,
and shoved my desk firmly
against the door,
so others could follow,
so we could all feel just
a little bit safer,
here in the land of the free.
Home of the brave,
I guess.
Down on floor I felt the grit of my
forbearer students,
viscerally understood
Freidman economics,
Cramped against the hardwood,
feeling my anger rise,
wondering if I’d rather
be dead.
Though that would rob nameless
merchants of whatever lifetime of profit
my buying habits might provide their bottom line.
Anyway, I saved the lives of several of her
young customers, who still had a lifetime of spending ahead.
The ghost of Ayn Rand points a boney finger
at a weeping Wordsworth--and laughs.