JULY 15, 2013

This is most definitely a political statement and if you do not like it... I make no apologies!

How many more deaths by firearms must we have before there is something done in this country to have responsible gun control?
Is this going to fix the problem... no, but if it saves some lives, it is well worth it!

As a healthcare worker for many years, I have seen up close and personal the heartbreak that gunshot wounds cause.
Death, devastating injury, fear, anger, the desire for retaliation, and then there are the many suicides and suicide attempts that leave distraught lives in an even worse situation.
And today we cannot even send our children to school and think they are safe for fear a mad gunman will appear and create chaos
in what should be a safe and secure setting for the most vulnerable... our innocent children.
Yet, we are no closer to solving this dilemma.

This morning in the Dallas Morning News was a slick advertisement that fell out on the table in front of me as I drank my cup of coffee.
It was put out by American Legacy Firearms Inc. and it was a sales pitch for the "Dallas Heritage Rifle"... (just in time for Christmas) and it comes with a TSA approved case.
So... does that mean you can carry your gun on a plane?
They have easy layaway plans or you can pay with your credit card but act fast as there are only 100 of these "collectors" rifles available.
Of course no price is given. Oh... and it is an official NRA licensed product! Why does that not surprise me?

OK... so here's the rest of the story.
There are multiple "historically important" engravings on the gun.
So I am seeing cotton production, buffalo robe trade, John Neely Bryan (founder of Dallas), the State Fair of Texas,
film, football (of course) and then there was the engraving of the Kennedy Memorial in downtown Dallas...
you know, where our president, John F. Kennedy was assassinated nearly 50 years ago.
The Kennedy Memorial is the largest engraving on the handle of the gun, and we will mark the 50th year of his death this November 2013.

This, to my mind, is disgusting in so many ways. Is Dallas proud of this? And to have that engraving on the handle of a gun... seriously?

And how sad to get an e-mail update this morning from the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
to find that there is a need to discuss and plan strategies to improve survival for gunshot victims without a fix to the gun problem itself.
Imagine the frustation and helpless feelings of EMS, police, doctors and healthcare workers to attempt to
save lives when there has been a horrific shooting of a human being or a mass shooting with a gun or guns.

The problem according to the article: "Active shooter/mass casualty events are a reality in modern American life."

The Hartford Consensus recommends that an integrated active shooter response should include the critical actions contained in the acronym THREAT:

1. Threat suppression
2. Hemorrhage control
3. Rapid Extraction to safety
4. Assessment by medical providers
5. Transport to definitive care

Of course we need the best coordinated response to these emergencies but when are we going to act to fix the problem? That is essentially the bottom line.
How many more deaths before we face the reality that guns kill and there needs to be sensible regulation of those guns.
And don't get me wrong... I am not saying to take away your "God-given right to bear arms" but when anyone can go to a flea market and come out minutes later with an assault rifle...
that to me is a problem... a big problem and we owe it to every citizen of this country to prevent that from happening.

One day after posting this to Pbase, I find there are others out there who are also upset about the depiction of the Kennedy Memorial on the gun:
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/dallas/Kennedy-Memorial-depicted-on-commemorative-rifle-215611341.html