Arming Sister Margaret!

If the GOP agrees to sticking out their necks:

Call for comprehensive, universal background checks,

Give police authority to take somebody's gun,

Raise the legal age to purchase them to 21,

I think we should let the teachers in a school decide

If they want to have a loaded pistol by their side...

If they did - and if they're trained on how to use their guns -

I'm prepared to compromise and let them arm the nuns.

(Sister Margaret was armed... She had her rosary.

She'd begin to swing those beads when she was mad at me.

With that heavy, metal cross that dangled from the end

She was not a woman you would argue with, my friend.)

'though, not everyone is Sister Margaret - Thank God! -

My sons had two State cops coach their Varsity Wrestling squad;

I'd trust guys like them with guns if they brought them to school.

I would make that bargain any day...  I'm not a fool.

If the President's sincere and starts to back away

From positions long supported by the NRA

I think that he'd see his polls dramatically increase.

He would have my full support...  Will wonders never cease?

Arming Sister Margaret?

(The stuff of nightmares.)

 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students give me hope

That the NRA has finally got sufficient rope

To go hang themselves. As A+ members call their bluff,

It feels like the tide has turned.  The country's had enough.

Where the politicians feared to tread, these students dare.

Long time donors mailed in checks made out for "thoughts and prayer."

Companies are pulling their support as pressure grows

To do something - even though the lobbyists oppose.

Maybe, when the worst already happens (if you live)

You begin to find inaction harder to forgive.

Maybe all that righteous anger aimed at us adults

Has a halfway decent chance of getting some results.

I'm afraid to hope for much...  I wouldn't bet the store.

NRA has weathered many storms like this before.

I pray it's the tipping point and we'll get something done

(Anything but giving Sister Margaret a gun.)

Parkland, FL - Just Another Massacre

Thoughts and prayers. (Photo courtesy of palmbeachpost.com)

I guess all our "thoughts and prayers" from last time weren't enough...

We don't like school shootings every 60 hours? Tough.

Can't infringe on rights the Constitution guarantees.

Think some more dead children come before that? Honey, please.

We've become like moving targets on a shooting range.

NRA has bought the Congress... Nothing's gonna change.

Maybe if we found some way to siphon off their wealth;

Taxed gun sales and used the cash for funding mental health...

But - of course - we won't do that...  Or anything at all.

Only tired "thoughts and prayers." The writing's on the wall;

This is our new normal and it's likely to persist.

Just another massacre. We'll add it to the list.

Too Soon?

 

Still too soon for talking about gun control, I guess...

Haven't finished cleaning - yet another - tragic mess.

Now is not the time to ask why 26 more died.

Maybe we're supposed to wait until the blood has dried.

At the rate that things are going though, there's one small hitch,

When we say we're too close to the situation - Which?

Were we still too close to Vegas?  When's the proper time

To discuss prevention of the next mass shooting crime?

There'll be lots of "thoughts and prayers" and silences observed

But, we future shooting victims would be better served

If, instead of waiting, in respect for all our dead,

We insist that Congress passes gun control, instead.

Universal background checks...  Is that too much to ask?

It gives us a fighting chance by helping to unmask

People who should not have guns...  Like guys who beat their wife;

If someone is dangerous they should be banned for life.

The Real Jade Helm 15 Conspiracy

(Courtesy of/slantedright2.blogspot.com)

I have met a lot of Texans; they were good to me

Even if, politically, we didn't quite agree.

All the Texans I have met were patriotic folk...

Not one seemed as if their wagon wheels were short a spoke.

I must not have met the kind who think Jade Helm 15

Is a plot for sneaking Special Forces to the scene,

Where they'll round-up dissidents and take away their guns.

U.S. military there, detaining Texan sons.

Could it be the reason why I never met that kind,

Who - just like their Governor (who's clearly lost his mind) -

Think that this conspiracy is anything but nuts

Weren't in the military?  Didn't have the guts.

If they'd ever served their country they'd know it's a lie...

If Obama were a despot, still he wouldn't try.

Jade Helm 15's being staged where long-horned cattle roam

Because it lets half our Special Forces visit home.

I've Got An Idea

ISIS - so extreme al-Qaeda's leaders think they're bad -

60 miles outside of Iraq's capital, Baghdad, 

Executed hundreds of unarmed, Iraqi men.

Army has to stand and fight for, if not now, then when?

I have got a great idea...  Let's give the women guns.

When we offer training, choose their daughters not their sons.

If the ISIS forces win it's girls who lose the most;

Highly motivating them to not abandon post.

Arm the female population; teach them how to shoot.

I believe it's likelier our efforts will bear fruit.

We should arm all Muslim women.  That's who we should back;

They're the ones the most at risk...  And not just in Iraq.

Had Enough?

Gun advocates dispute this number, saying that some shootings are "just gang violence."

In my high-school student days ('though it's been many years)

Tests and late assignments were the sum of all my fears...

Trying to be popular though, sadly, I was not

But I never worried that, one day, I might get shot.

Not like kids today, where high-school shootings are routine;

Added to the pressures that they're feeling as a teen

Is it any wonder that their tests show lower scores?

They're distracted by crazed gunmen coming through the doors.

I am not a helicopter parent, but...  Come on!

As I watch more grieving parents mourn a child who's gone

I have got to wonder why our daughters and our sons

Can't get some protection from the lunatics with guns.

Have we grown so powerless that we've just given up?

Let the NRA control the conversation?  Yup.

Time to take the power back.  We have to make a squawk.

Tell your politicians that it's time to walk the walk.

Biometrics? Not A Shot

It would be a start. (Photo/www.thefirearmblog.com)

Massachusetts' Senator Ed Markey just proposed

Making guns more safe...  Surprise!  The NRA's opposed.

Wouldn't want to make it hard for kids to shoot a gun;

NRA wants weapons free for use by anyone.

Biometrics guaranteeing only owners may

Use their guns could, possibly, get in somebody's way.

Plus, it wouldn't work at all, the NRA insists;

Suicidal teenagers would simply slit their wrists.

Wouldn't want to violate their rights; prevent mistakes.

Accidental deaths are rising?  Oh well, them's the breaks.

Can't blame Ed for trying but it is a waste of time:

NRA would fight this if it took their final dime.

Markey wants to make a point I guess, and yet, the flaw

Is he doesn't have a prayer he'll make his point a law.

NRA blocked background checks so what would make Ed think

Safety measures have a shot?  I think his chances stink.

Dear NRA... So Much For That

 

So much for the argument that "good guys" toting guns

Is the way that we'll protect our daughters and our sons.

Tell that to Sybrina Fulton; go tell Trayvon's dad.

Jury didn't seem to think George Zimmerman was bad...

Just a guy who tried to help protect his neighborhood.

Volunteered his time; believed that he was doing good.

Just a guy out in his car - patrolling - packing heat.

That's the guy who gunned an unarmed child down in the street.

If George had no gun then things would not have gone so far;

Would have done as he was told and sat tight in his car.

But he felt like Dirty Harry, caught up in the chase.

Gun gave him the courage to get in a scared boy's face.

You don't have to be a lunatic for kids to die,

All you need's a weapon and a tense, untrained "good guy."

Think the NRA and LaPierre will now recant?

Let's ask Trayvon Martin what he thinks...  Oh, right.  We can't.

Dear Gabriel E. Gomez... Thanks, But No Thanks.

The Massachusetts election for U.S. Senate will be held on 25 June 2013.

 

Here in Massachusetts - the election weeks away -

I've begun to listen to what Gomez has to say.

Heard him pledge allegiance to the flag, heard him complain;

Says Ed Markey's old and runs a negative campaign.

Gomez was a Navy SEAL; a unit I respect

(I was in the Navy, too...  What else would you expect?)

But, although I thank him for his service, he and I

Have too many issues where we don't see eye to eye:

Women's reproductive rights, Obama's health care plan,

Guns and ammo, education, climate, Pakistan.

It appears I'm not alone; he's lagging in the polls.

Markey gets my vote for Senate - Gomez for FOX holes.

The 113th Congress and The Golden Rule

The Manchin-Toomey Amendment called for background checks and required 60 votes to pass.  (Photo/Mercury News)

NRA is quite relieved; their Senators stayed bought.

Voted not to implement reforms the country sought.

Politics as usual; the famous Golden Rule...

If you've got enough of it, the Congress is your tool.

Lobbyists with money tell the Congress how to vote -

Wishes of the population given little note.

This, in my opinion, is a national disgrace.

One I hope we don't forget in the next Senate race.

Outlawing Knives

Mitch McConnell and 13 others are threatening to filibuster a gun bill. | John Shinkle/POLITICO

Students injured at a Texas university;

Lunatic stabbed every, single person he could see.

Or, at least, the ones that he could catch; he had a knife.

14 people injured; 2 are fighting for their life.

'Now they'll want to outlaw knives, as well,' a Tweeter said.

But, unlike with guns - so far, at least - nobody's dead.

If the man had brought a gun instead, I guarantee

We'd be watching body counts, again, on our TV.

4 months after Sandy Hook; it's time the Senate votes.

GOP should be aware that we are taking notes.

Even the Amendment says "well regulated" guns.

Get your act together or we're sending in the nuns.

The 113th Congress and the Newtown Parents

Newtown parents joined the President on Air Force One,

Vowing they will never rest until their battle's won;

Flying down to Washington to lobby on the Hill;

Fighting for reforms the NRA would like to kill.

Universal background checks which, most of us agree,

Make good sense and is a measure we'd all like to see

May not pass the Senate which will, seemingly, ignore

Changes that the vast majority are asking for.

How did things get so messed up that it's the NRA

With the only voice that seems to ever get a say?

Newtown parents - those who've buried daughters, wives, and sons -

Speak with more authority on legislating guns.

The 113th Congress - Who Are You Working For, Anyway?

Pistol packin' teachers stationed in the nation's schools;

That's the only change the NRA wants to the rules.

They'll agree to background checks for teachers who are armed...

After all, they wouldn't care to see more children harmed.

That is the extent of any changes that they want.

NRA has always had the influence to daunt

Any politician who attempts to compromise

'cause Wayne LaPierre, their spokesman, stoops to spreading lies.

They're opposed to background checks; they call them registries.

Say we'll come to take their guns away but, honey, please...

That is simply crazy talk. There are no men in black.

We just need a change after the Sandy Hook attack.

Most of us want background checks; that seems the place to start.

We want mental health professionals to play a part.

If the Congress represents The People's will, then they

Need to show us they're not working for the NRA.

The NRA - WTF? (Wants to Forget)

Since the Newtown massacre the NRA has tried

To deflect attention from the numbers who have died.

(Meanwhile we Americans run out and purchase guns...

Makes me want to swear but I am still afraid of nuns.)

This is what a lobbyist can do when they have cash;

Politicians are afraid the NRA will thrash

Anyone who even tries to bring the issue up.

Is the NRA creating paranoia? Yup.

Once they thought that background checks for everyone was cool;

Advocated for a weapons-free zone at a school.

Now  they say that any list allows our government

To disarm its citizens - with little effort spent.

Now  they want to arm our teachers.  My, how things have changed.

I've begun to fear Wayne LaPierre's become deranged.

Fostering conspiracies appears to be his aim.

Cash is needed if we hope to beat him at his game.

Guns, by Stephen King

Available through Amazon.

Stephen King has written a new essay titled Guns.

Bought it on my Kindle so I didn't freeze my buns.

Only cost a little bit and all the proceeds go

To a fund for gun reform (which could mean lots of dough.)

I would read a laundry list if that's what Stephen wrote.

If he ran for office in a state where I could vote,

I would send him to the Senate; quite a sacrifice...

No new books and I've already read his old ones - twice.

One of them I read before he pulled the book from print,

(Didn't like the Bachman books; they never had a hint

Of the light that's at the core of things that Stephen writes.)

Didn't have  to pull the book; his 1st Amendment rights

Offered him protections which he limited himself.

Thinks it's time we take high-powered weapons off the shelf,

Universal background checks, keep bullet counts to 10,

Funding for our mental health but says that, even then,

We can't ever stop the boys determined to succeed.

Wonder if an age limit is something that we need?

Seems to me these murderers are young and angry men.

Something must be done before it all shakes out again.

Dear Alex Jones, et al. - Really?

(Alex Jones)

Gun enthusiasts - afraid we'll take away their guns...

So far out of touch that their obtuseness simply stuns -

Threatened that they'd go to war in case Obama tries.

Why on earth would anyone sell weapons to these guys?

They're the kind of people who, I think, should be disarmed.

Add them to a registry before someone gets harmed.

Not that it would matter. They could purchase guns at shows.

They won't need a background check...  Thus, on and on it goes.

It's been said; "If everyone is armed we're more polite."

Look across the pond and you'll discover that's not right.

Too late now, that genie's out and it's not going back;

But, we must try something to prevent the next attack.

I don't want to take your guns, but - high round magazines?

They're the kind you often find at massive murder scenes.

Keep the bullet count to 15 lives some killer wrecks,

And we should require universal background checks.

Smeejie Get Your Gun?

(Photo/ REUTERS/Dave Kaup)

In the wake of Sandy Hook, where 20 children died,

Nation in a state of shock; Barack Obama cried.

(He was not the only one who's eyes had sprung a leak

I know that I wept non-stop for the entire week.)

We all swore we'd make a change to stop these killing sprees.

Think that anything will ever happen?  Honey, please.

While the Newtown parents buried daughters and their sons,

People, in the thousands, stood in line to purchase guns.

Weapons sales went through the roof and bullets sold out quick.

Proof, to me, the culture that we live in's pretty sick.

NRA sounds rational when people are afraid.

How far has my own position on this issue strayed?

I've begun to think that arming teachers makes good sense.

Maybe build a moat, or else electrify a fence.

We now have so many guns we can't uncross the line.

There's a gun for everyone...  I wonder who has mine.

The World's Worst Mom

"Please Mom - I've got to have it. All the other kids have one..."
The first shot in the battle I'm now fighting with my son.
"Forget it! You don't love me and it's clear that you don't care
I'll be the most unpopular of all the others there...

 Perhaps he's right because, right now, he's not my favorite child
My steadfast, flat refusal drives him absolutely wild
You'd think that I was beating him... I'm thinking I should start
This teenage angst and anger stuff is tearing us apart

 "You've always liked my brother best. You never cared for me
And you've never, ever tried at all my side to see
I won't do my homework. I won't help with any chore.

I'll keep right on arguing 'til you can't take no more...

"You asked if I'd be jumping off some bridge if others did
And weren't too happy when I said 'Of course! Like any kid.'
I warn you! There'll be trouble 'less I get an Air Soft gun
So I can run around and shoot my other friends for fun."

He used to like me quite a lot - But lately, not so much
He leaves the room when I walk in and scorns my slightest touch
You want to know the reason why I won't when others did?
Remember Christmas Story and "You'll shoot your eye out kid"?

I know that's what would happen. I can see it clear as day
And I won't spend the money for the $100 bucks co-pay
So I don't care - There's not a shot I'm buying him a gun
He'll have to find some other way to hang out and have fun.