Terry Ireland | + Follow Poet |
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Constitutional Right

Oh, he had a combat rifle,
An Uzzi sub machine gun
A revolver and a pistol
And a TASER just for fun,
Because to bear arms
Was his God given right
One of those for which 
He was prepared to fight.

Nobody ever knew
Why he flipped his lid.
Nobody ever knew
Why he did what he did.
Just wounded lying among
Bodies of the six dead,
Rampaging on until a SWAT
Marksman shot him in the head.

It’s not guns that kill people
The NRA statement said
Its those who pull the trigger, 
But folk still end up dead.
I really don’t think that’s
Much of a consolation
To bereaved and grievimg
Coping with the situation.

A loved one lost with
No apparent reason why
Just in the wrong place so
They just happened to die.
One of those things
That sets off alarms
As to why they need to right
To continue to bear arms.

There are no  indigenous natives
Waiting to ambush waggon trains
Very few live lives of danger
Out on the old Wild West plains.
No, perhaps they need weapons  
To protect from the likely harms
Caused by all those others who
Exercise their right to bear arms.

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Ilene Bauer Date: 4/16/2023 1:37:00 PM Bravo, Terry! Brilliantly said! Should be required reading for everyone in government and every gun owner… Login to Reply Terry Ireland Date: 4/16/2023 5:11:00 PM Thanks ilene. I’d just read about the latest mask shooting in Alabama, and the NRA threats to end the careers of politicians who opposed them and wrote this poem. I’m sad if it offends some, but what a crazy situation.

Speaks Volumes Date: 4/16/2023 9:12:00 AM Its only going to take one president with enough gumption to stand up to the gun lobby.. Doubt that will happen in our life tiime. Cheers Wen Login to Reply Terry Ireland Date: 4/16/2023 9:56:00 AM Never happen Wen

Speaks Volumes Date: 4/16/2023 9:00:00 AM If its the one that pulls the trigger that does all the harm, I have a simple solution Let every one bear arms, just sell then with out a trigger. let every one have a gun, but make it illegal to have one with a trigger. Problem solved. Enjoyed your poem Terry, We had a mass shooting in Tasmania in 1996. We banned guns, Had an amnesty for the govt to buy back all guns. There hasnt been a mass shooting in Australia since. Login to Reply Terry Ireland Date: 4/16/2023 9:08:00 AM One of my Veteran Mates now lives in Canada. No weapons, no mass shootings. Same continent. Thanks Wen.