FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Feb 4

Tragedy in Numbers of Accidental Gun Deaths in the U.S.

by bcurry

We occasionally read or hear about accidental gun deaths among Americans in our media. The fact is that a few instances of accidental deaths due to firearms do occur in Canada, but no where near the numbers recorded in the U.S.  Most Canadian gun-related fatalities or injuries are due to hunting mishaps for example, especially since the country has far fewer gun owners than what you see in the States.  Some of the American stories are nevertheless horrific.  There was one about an infant child who found a small revolver in her mother’s purse and accidentally fatally shot the mother.  Of course, there are several stories of members of a household shooting another member, sometimes mistakenly suspecting a night time intruder in their home.

Overall, there were close to 40,000 deaths from firearms in the U.S. in 2018.  Sixty-one percent of deaths from firearms in the U.S. are suicides.  That same year, 24,432 people in the U.S. died by firearm suicide.  Accidental gun deaths accounted for 1% (458) of total gun-related deaths in the U.S. in 2018.  Thus far in 2020, there have been unintentional recorded shootings by over 220 children.  This has resulted in 92 deaths and 135 injuries.  Most unintentional firearm-related deaths among children occur in or around the home; 50 percent at the home of the victim, and 40 percent at the home of a friend or relative.  It is estimated that there are roughly 430 unintentional firearm fatalities in the U.S. per year. The rate is highest for older children to young adults, ages 10 to 29, and the vast majority of the victims are male.  These numbers do not reflect the accidental gun-related injuries which can be life threatening and life changing.  These numbers also do not reflect the consequences of stolen guns being used in crimes.

Gun-related deaths are tragic, accidental gun-related deaths are even more tragic especially when they involve children.  If one has to have guns around the home, then one needs to employ numerous precautions in order to keep them away from younger household members.  Keeping a loaded gun in one’s unlocked dresser or kitchen cabinet is careless and unsafe.  In Canada, registered gun owners are required by law to first separate ammunition physically from where a gun is stored or in a secure place with the unloaded gun.  Secondly, guns are to be rendered inoperable by means of a secure locking device or the removal of the bolt or bolt-carrier.  Finally, the gun itself is to be stored in a locked container, gun rack or safe, preferably with a guarded combination.  The idea is that that the storage location is constructed so that it cannot readily be broken open or into.

The careless storage and use of weapons around the home is even more of a concern right now that many families and their children are isolating due to COVID-19.  The first rule of parenting is to protect their children.  One accidental death is far too many.  Remember, the data does not include hospitalized cases of injury due to firearms, composite statistics which are not gathered by agencies.  Whether or not one is a proponent of gun control doesn’t matter when it comes to the unsafe storage and use of guns.  The numbers speak for themselves, but each number represents an avoidable death or injury.  Indeed, one extensive American study in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that guns kept in homes are more likely to be involved in a fatal or nonfatal accidental shooting, criminal assault, or suicide attempt than to be used to injure or kill in self-defence.

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Apr 9

Tragedy Strikes a Small Saskatchewan Town as a Result of a Highway Accident

by bcurry

On April 6, 2018, the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey squad was travelling in Saskatchewan by bus to a hockey game, just like many other junior hockey teams do annually across Canada and the U.S.  Unfortunately, the bus was involved in a horrific collision with a tractor trailer.  There were 29 people on the bus at the time of the collision, 15 of whom died with the remainder being sent to hospital suffering from a variety of serious injuries.  Needless-to-say, all of Canada was shocked and sent their prayers and thoughts to the families, friends and community members. A country is in grief, and well it should be.

However, while tragic, one has to understand that fatalities resulting from motor vehicle accidents are a fact of life on North American highways. Fortunately, the introduction of seat belts, air bags and other safety measures helped greatly in reducing fatalities and serious injuries in recent years. In Canada, the death toll went from 2 fatalities per 10,000 motor vehicles registered in 1996 to less than 1 fatality per 10,000 motor vehicles registered in 2015. In the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 32,000 people died on U.S. roads in 2013, roughly 90 fatalities a day. However, similar to Canada, the U.S. has seen a 31 percent reduction in its motor vehicle death rate per capita over the past 13 years.

Put in another perspective, gun deaths continue unabated. In 2014, gun deaths outpaced motor vehicle deaths in 21 American states and the District of Columbia. The CDC published recent data showing 38,658 gun deaths for 2016, including suicides — up from 33,563 gun deaths in 2012. Unlike motor vehicles, guns remain the only consumer products not regulated for health and safety in the United States and Canada.

While we are doing better with respect to highway and motor vehicle safety, much more needs to be done. The best thing that one can do to honor the victims of the Humboldt tragedy is to strive to continue to improve highway and motor vehicle safety. The best thing that one can do to honor the students killed in the mass shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — which saw 17 people killed and several injured — is to improve gun safety and gun control laws. As societies, we owe it to both past and future victims.

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Mar 26

March For Our Lives Is More Than Just A One Day Demonstration, It’s A Decade Long Campaign!

by bcurry

On March 24, 2018, hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated not only in Washington, D.C., but in hundreds of communities across the U.S., Canada, Europe and elsewhere. They demonstrated against a gun culture that threatens our lives and those of our children everyday.  None of us are immune to the violent use of guns.  In Ottawa where I live, there have already been dozens of shootings so far this year, with several people being injured or killed. As per Canadian authorities, guns are being smuggled into Canada from the U.S. on a regular basis. According to the Canada Border Services Agency, firearm seizures at the border are going up. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has reported that guns are being sold illegally through the darknet, often to buyers who had no firearms licences.  At the same time, gun sales are occurring through more visible online vendors as well as internet forums.  Almost half the guns used in criminal activities have been stolen from the homes of legitimate gun owners.

Possession of handguns, favoured by most drug gangs and organized criminals, is closely regulated in Canada compared to the U.S.  Nevertheless, as a result of the illegal gun smuggling activities, there has been an increasing use of handguns in major Canadian cities.  From about 1991 on, the prevalence of handguns surpassed long-guns in Canadian homicide statistics. Fortunately, due to tighter gun control laws, there have been few shootings that have involved semi-automatic assault weapons.  The last major mass shooting using an assault rifle was on December 6, 1989, when Marc Lépine shot and tragically killed 14 women at Université de Montréal’s École Polytechnique. One result was the tightening up of long-gun control laws in Canada. However, make no mistake, there is a gun lobby in Canada and they are as active as the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the U.S.

The momentum gathered by anti-gun activists after the mass shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — which saw 17 people killed and several injured — is remarkable. However, the future of this latest effort to cure America of its gun obsession will need gobs of money, time, commitment and political skill. Whether the students have the resolve to see it through will determine whether they have any more success than previous anti-gun uprisings.  The lack of that persistence has been the NRA’s greatest friend to date.  Are the Democrats more willing than Republicans to risk their careers by upsetting the NRA and its many apostles?

While the older generations can sit around crippled by pessimism, today’s younger generation has not only the option but a real need to tackle this issue. Real change takes time, resources and commitment.  Do not believe that the NRA and the gun industry will not devote all its political influence and employ nasty tactics to undermine this emerging movement.  Get ready for a long haul fight and numerous setbacks in the months and years ahead.  Nevertheless, we must applaud and support the movement’s efforts.  Please do so by signing on to their petition and/or sending your friends this link: https://marchforourlives.com/sign.

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Feb 22

It’s Time for American Youth to Stand Up for Gun Control

by bcurry

From the 1930s through the 1960s, Saul Alinsky, a tough, pragmatic American activist and a lover of humanity, pioneered a method of helping poor and working-class people organize themselves to improve their communities, especially in crime-ridden Chicago neighbourhoods. He subsequently wrote a book entitled “Rules for Rebels” which highlighted some of the peaceful but assertive ways which allowed ordinary people to push for social change. He would immerse himself in the neighbourhood, listen to ordinary people’s troubles and needs, assess where power lay, and empower previously divided groups to seek common goals by standing up to government and corporate machines.  After the recent South Florida high school shooting and other mass shootings, you could sure use another Saul Alinsky right now.

Perhaps, just perhaps, this latest school shooting is the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was inspiring to see hundreds, if not thousands of young people organizing to protest against the lack of gun control measures in the U.S. and for changes in the gun culture. They are even planning a huge march on Washington. All of this is very good and nice, except as Alinsky would note, you need to start on-going community-based initiatives to effectively influence state and local authorities.  The youth movement must align itself with existing community and state-wide organizations to develop comprehensive and continuous plans of action.  Local, state and federal politicians have to feel the immediate heat.  The movement must use social and main stream media to get its messages out.  It must organize support wherever possible in upcoming federal and state elections for pro-gun control candidates.  There must be open and effective protest.

Do not fool oneself, for any initiatives will have to be organized on a long-term basis. There is little doubt that the National Rifle Association (NRA) and its supporters, including the arms industry, will throw everything except the kitchen sink into a counter campaign, while increasing lobbying at state and federal levels.  However, if history is any indication, further mass shootings will unfortunately occur in the U.S.  Moreover, these youth represent future leaders who must take a concrete stand against organizations such as the NRA and their appalling past and current influence on federal and state governments.

The issue of gun violence in the U.S. has existed for decades, and it will perhaps take decades to halt the evident trends. Hopefully, there are some Saul Alinskys’ among the youth of today.  Those of us who care, must support their cause and peaceful protest.  Otherwise, these horrendous tragedies will simply repeat themselves, year after year after year.

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Dec 6

27 years after the Montreal massacre, gun control in Canada is as lax as ever

by bcurry

On December 6, 1989, Marc Lépine shot and killed 14 women at Université de Montréal’s École Polytechnique, before turning his (legally registered) semi-automatic gun on himself. That tragic event set in motion a new chapter in the history of gun control in Canada. On this day, numerous campaigns, marches, vigils and related events are held every year across Canada.

The federal government passed stricter gun control policies just six years after the tragedy, including the establishment of a long-gun registry. However, the Conservative government under Stephen Harper unfortunately dismantled the long-gun registry in 2012, and eased several restrictions on restricted or prohibited weapons. The same 2012 law abolishing the long-gun registry also relieved private gun sellers from the obligation of asking to see the buyer’s firearms permit.

The U.S., with the least gun control laws among industrialized countries, saw 181 mass public shootings with at least four fatalities since 1900. One of the most recent was the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida, which saw 49 people killed by a shooter carrying a legally purchased AR-15 assault rifle. Rather than introducing stricter gun control initiatives, most states have made it easier to carry concealed weapons and to purchase guns, all the result of the Supreme Court’s nonsensical decision endorsing the ‘right to bear arms’ in their constitution.  Thankfully, Canada doesn’t have such a precarious right, despite what the Canadian Firearms Institute may advocate.

Today, Canadians continue to remind young people of the need to avoid tragedies such as that at the École Polytechnique 27 years ago. We must strive to ensure that there are much needed controls on the lawful possession and use of firearms.  The three pillars of gun control are licensing of gun owners, control on guns and a ban on weapons that are designed solely for the purpose of killing other human beings.  Whether such laws work in preventing deaths is a matter of politics. What is real are the lives that might potentially be saved.

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Sep 20

Canadians Are Just As Vulnerable To Trumpism, Including His ‘Basket of Deplorables’

by bcurry

Years ago, it became evident that the ultra-right conservative movement in the U.S. (highlighted by the Tea Party) was creeping into Canadian politics. This was particularly true when the Reform Party of Preston Manning consolidated with the former Progressive Conservative party to create the Conservative party of Stephen Harper.  After 9/11, a certain portion of Canadian society adapted many of the same attitudes of American conservatives, especially toward national security, guns and immigration.

The Conservative federal government in Canada displayed a similar position toward guns as the American right does. Indeed, it eliminated the national gun registry and loosened the criteria regulating restricted and prohibited weapons, including numerous semi-automatic assault rifles.  Canada even has an equivalent to the American National Rifle Association in the National Firearms Association, which lobbies for reduced gun control measures. Trumpism of course supports the right of every American to carry guns, even into bars.

When it comes to immigration, there is a segment of the Canadian population that believes there is a need to institute greater screening processes. Indeed, one candidate in the current Conservative leadership race, Kellie Leitch, proposed that immigrants and refugees be screened for ‘anti-Canadian values’. This position is similar to that of Americans who support stronger screening of immigrants from countries known to have factions opposed to U.S. interests abroad, including banning immigration from certain countries and groups.

Trumpism excels at the ‘blame game’. Former President Harry S. Truman was iconically quoted as stating: “The buck stops here”.  Under Trumpism, the buck appears to always stop elsewhere.  Among Canadians, there are those that refuse to accept responsibility for their conditions and actions.  Instead, it much easier to blame the so-called ‘establishment’, government, free trade, immigrants, ‘lefties’, the media, the weather, and anything else that irritates them.

Whether one agrees or not, there is little doubt that Trumpism appeals to a segment of a population that screams “I’m mad and I won’t take it anymore”. Everything can be put into simple “black and white” terms, omitting the reality that there are many “grey” areas.  Trumpism declares it own truths, even though the facts say otherwise and demonstrate complexities.  Instead, slogans replace well constructed policies and fear takes the place of hope, inclusion and collaboration.  Hopefully, Canadians won’t succumb to Trumpism.

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Dec 4

Help Me To Understand Mass Killings in the U.S.

by bcurry

Let me understand this.  The latest mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, which killed 14 people and injured 21 others, represented the 355th such mass shooting in 2015.  Mass shootings are usually defined as incidents in which four or more people, including the gunman, are killed or injured by gunfire.  According to the Reddit tracker, the number of mass shootings so far this year in the U.S. has already surpassed the total number of mass shootings in 2014.  At this pace, the total will be well above 2013’s pace, when a total of 363 mass shootings were recorded.

What is really difficult to understand is why Congress would block an attempt to ban the sale of weapons to persons on the American potential terrorist watch list.  According to the Government Accountability Office and The Washington Post’s Wonkblog, more than 2,000 terrorism suspects purchased guns in the U.S. between 2004 and 2014.  Democrats have repeatedly proposed closing that loophole, but the National Rifle Association and its Republican allies have apparently blocked those efforts, so it’s still legal.

In addition, just hours before this latest mass shooting, more than 2,000 physicians from around the country petitioned federal lawmakers to lift a restriction on research.  For nearly two decades, the restriction essentially blocked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from conducting research on gun violence.  The doctors spoke about the need to view gun violence as a public health epidemic and research ways to solve it – as the country would with any disease causing thousands of American deaths each year.  The removal of the restriction would have in no way infringed on the rights of gun owners.

As in the case of other mass killers, the authorities discovered that the assailants had large caches of lethal arms and ammunition in their possession.  Police found more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition on or near the California couple, suggesting that they were prepared for a long siege.  Police recovered two assault rifles and two 9mm pistols, all legally purchased, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  Kind of makes you wonder why such large quantities of munitions and the purchase of assault rifles wouldn’t have raised some eyebrows!

When one person dies in America every 16 minutes from a gun, people discuss an urgent need to talk about remedies.  Democrats, including President Obama, want to address America’s problems with guns.  Republicans talk about the need to address mental health. Both are right.  Society routinely constructs policies that reduce the toll of deadly products and activities all around us.  That’s what we do with cars (driver’s licenses, seatbelts, guardrails).  It’s what we do with swimming pools (fences, childproof gates, pool covers).  We often pre-examine and licence people (police officers, military personnel, drivers, pilots) so as to prevent persons with mental or other health issues from potentially endangering public safety.  Indeed, when it comes to improving universal background checks, recent polls have shown that a majority of gun owners would approve such an initiative.  So one can only ask why Americans aren’t ready to really deal with this issue?  I don’t have an answer or logical explanation.  Maybe you do.

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Oct 5

It’s Not More Legislation That’s Necessarily the Solution, It’s Also Enforcement of Existing Laws

by bcurry

President Obama has again referred to the need for more gun control legislation in response to the recent tragic mass shootings at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. As complex societies, we have legislation regulating activities throughout our two nations, including those dealing with public and worker health and safety, the environment, financial institutions, transportation, etc., etc. It would seem that we are well regulated already in most of our daily activities. Yet, terrible things keep happening in communities across North America — be it the mass shootings in Oregon and elsewhere or the train derailment in Lac-Megantic, Quebec that killed dozens of people in 2013.

Years ago in order to reduce so-called ‘government bureaucracy’ and reduce operational expenditures, governments began to introduce the concept of ‘self-regulation’ in a number of areas. This meant that industry had to ensure that businesses were in compliance with the standards found under various forms of existing legislation. It also meant that the regulators would reduce the number of proactive inspections and restrict their interventions to investigating accidents and incidents affecting health and safety, particularly where there were fatalities and injuries. In other words, in a much more reactive mode, enforcement primarily became targeted at violations committed by bad actors. Where violations are found, penalties are imposed in the form of fines and in fewer cases criminal charges.

However, all of this enforcement activity is performed ‘after the fact’. People become sick from unsafe food, water sources are polluted by hazardous materials releases, air quality suffers from high pollutant emissions from diesel vehicles, workers die in coal mine explosions, etc., etc. Fewer inspectors and administrators means less preventive and proactive regulatory activity. Having a registry of persons with mental illness or criminal records is meaningless if states and local authorities don’t provide much needed information to the responsible regulator in a timely and efficient manner. Without the effective enforcement of existing government requirements, more people are going to die at the hands of some mass killer.

Enforcement of standards and regulated activities has to improve in many areas involving societal oversight. Otherwise, more tragedies will occur affecting all of us in one way or another. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Hopefully, politicians will finally recognize this.

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Jun 21

Why Bother Arguing With Gun Owners?

by bcurry

More mass shootings in the U.S. and the resulting silence is deafening.  While their President may continually question the fact that his society is the most violent among industrialized countries, the onslaught continues.  The arms industry and its lobbyists rule the day.

Even here is Canada, statistically far less violent but increasingly seeing the use of firearms in homicides, there has been little real outrage over the recent weakening of gun control measures.  Some Canadian gun owners even argue that more gun control is a first step in the government eventually confiscating their weapons.  Sounds like arguments by militant militia movements existing both in the U.S. and Canada.  Remember folks, it’s the God-given right to bear arms!

When the number of guns in the hands of people outnumbers the number of people in a society, it would seem only inevitable that they will be used in violent acts of domestic terror and crime.  Indeed, some would argue that we are now in a state of perpetual war.  Local police are equipped with high-powered rifles, machine guns, armoured-attack vehicles, etc., etc.  As more police are unfortunately gunned down, authorities are becoming more and more like paramilitary organizations.  Can’t really blame them.

Getting guns off the street is a lot harder then it sounds.  Pro-gun groups continue to argue that each individual has the right to defend themselves if attacked or provoked.  It used to be that guns were primarily needed for hunting, target practice and sporting events.  However, we’ve seem for whatever reason to have expanded the need.  Sorry folks, given the political and financial clout of gun advocates, there isn’t really any reason to bother arguing for increased gun control measures.  There are no more excuses, no more rational thinking and no more political will.

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Apr 24

American Gun Culture Gone Amok!

by bcurry

Lucille, get my Magnum 45 because I’m moving to Georgia. Low and behold, that state’s Governor just signed into law the possibility of every gun owner carrying a weapon into a church, bars and government buildings under certain conditions. Schools will also be authorized now to allow staff members to carry weapons on campus. All this because advocates believe that it will protect the constitutional right to bear arms. So much for Georgia peach and friendly Southern hospitality!

Hey, I can even carry a gun to an airport out there. If discovered when going through security, as long as I have a valid gun permit, I simply would get slapped on the wrist and sent home. What more can a law-abiding gun owner hope for?

Despite the evident on-going gun violence in the U.S., more states have been introducing more lax gun legislation, especially those that are Republican controlled. Here in Canada, both the number of victims and the rate of firearm-related violent crime fell by more than one-quarter between 2009 and 2012. This represented a rate of 21 victims per 100,000 population in 2012. The rate of firearm-related homicide in Canada was reported to be 0.49 per 100,000 population in 2012, which was seven times lower than that of the United States at 3.5 per 100,000 population in 2012.

On the one hand, you have American police representatives expressing grave concerns over having citizens carrying guns out in the open. Then there are those on the other hand, including the gun lobbyists, who appear to believe that arming everyone will make them safer from attacks by the so-called “bad guys”. One can only hope that bystanders don’t get caught in the crossfire. Having guns allowed in bars or restaurants reminds me of the old Wild West mentality. Unfortunately, we’re supposed to be living in a modern age. At least, I hope we are!

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