MARCH FOR OUR LIVES

Yesterday I captured a historic moment with my Nikon camera. Thanks to Cindy who has been volunteering in political events since last year’s March for Women, I have been photographing many of these including those for our Congressman Tom Suozzi, Third District.

At March For Our Lives event at the State College of Farmingdale, the students fired me up with what they are doing. That’s why I write this blog.

We all know the ignition of this recent gun violence issue. But it’s hardly new to the U.S. Are you aware that 90 people die every single day from gun violence? That is equivalent to a Jumbo Jet going down every few days. Imagine that.

According to statistics by Time magazine the U.S. had 290 school shootings since 2013, shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting. The definition of a school shooting is:

– At least one victim insured or killed

– Either the shooter or at least one of the victims was a student or teacher

– The attack occurred on school property

– Injuries are counted only if they resulted from gunfire

What is wrong with this country?

For me, it is easy to reflect on Switzerland.

Unlike the U.S., Switzerland has a mandatory military service for men. All men between the ages of 18 and 34 (used to be to 50) deemed “fit for service” are given a rifle and trained. Every year you had to do a mandatory shooting program at one of the many shooting places. In an emergency the Swiss Army would be ready within 24 hours. That means every soldier has his whole military equipment including rifle at home.

While I am writing this blog and look out of the window, I see three neighbors each with young men in their households. If this were Switzerland, each would go to the military service and would be given a machine gun. The same for the father. That means, potentially those 3 families would have 9 machine guns and with each gun a sealed tin can with 24 bullets (216 bullets together). And while gun ownership is dropping in Switzerland, there is still one gun for every four Swiss.

So I ask myself, why don’t the Swiss have these issues of mass shootings? The same question applies to the rest of the world, too.

For Switzerland, the answer is strict gun laws. It is not easy to get a permit. And the Swiss are trained. Already from a young age, we learn how to handle a gun. There may be something else at play here too. It may have something to do with happiness. Switzerland was ranked fourth in the UN’s 2017 World Happiness Report. The Swiss were applauded for high marks on “all the main factors found to support happiness: caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income and good governance” the report’s authors wrote.

Meanwhile, according to the report, happiness has taken a dive over the past decade in the US. “The reasons are declining social support and increased corruption”, the authors said.

Getting back to the U.S. – I agree with the students who say that schools should not look like a fort. One student with a strong and clear voice said: “we need to arm our teachers …… with pen and paper, not bullets.” She got a big and long applause.

This issue is bi-partisan. Shooters don’t know if their victims are democrats or republicans. One of the students said this and it makes so much sense. It’s politics and the NRA that makes this issue partisan.

There was one poster I saw, not at this event, but somewhere else that really brought the political issue into focus. It said, “When the 2nd amendment was written (protecting the right of the people to keep and bear arms and was adopted on December 15, 1791) “people owned slaves. Times changed. So shall the constitution”. Wow, right?

BTW back in 1791, common guns included muskets and flintlock pistols. According to the Washington Post, a “Typical Revolutionary-era musket” had a one-round magazine capacity, and it could fire around three effective rounds per minute – in the hands of the most skilled wielder. Times changed. So shall the gun laws.

The students are very logical. They are not taken by politics or the NRA.

Yesterday’s rally at Farmingdale was not a party related event. It was organized by students and sponsored by Tom Suozzi. But, it’s clear that politics will, in the end, help shape this issue. Your elected representative will either do something about gun violence for not. They get your vote, or they don’t.

Let’s support this movement and be a part of it.

Click Image to view Slideshow

Interested in seeing more pictures of the event? Click here.

Monday, March 26, 2018. I just received the newest The Economist in my mail box. “Guns and rösti” / Debunking a Swiss gun myth. This is an interesting short article.