Polemic: America, Land of the Dead
Every 16 hours a woman is shot
by her husband or boyfriend
One American is killed with a gun
every 15 minutes
Over 80 Americans are shot and killed
every day
7 children are “unintentionally” shot
every day
33,000 Americans are killed by guns
every year
Every day 55 Americans kill themselves
with guns
There were 330 mass shootings
in America in 2015
This is a public health issue
This is a domestic security issue
This is an every-single-citizen-is-involved issue
You could be next
or your spouse or partner or child
or mother or father or sister or brother
74% of NRA members favor background checks
46% fewer women are shot to death by husbands
or boyfriends in states with background checks
48% fewer on-duty cops are shot in states with
background checks
51% of NRA members favor 5-day waiting periods
Most states have a 24-hour waiting period to get a tattoo
to buy a gun there is no waiting period required
States with waiting periods before gun purchases
have 51% fewer suicides
In Texas
no permit is required to own a handgun
no registration is required for owning long arms or handguns
no license is required to own firearms
there are no assault weapons laws
texans can carry concealed weapons if they have a permit
with no training or educational classes required
Most states are the same – trapped in oblivion
It takes 1,000 hours of training to be a yoga instructor
to buy a gun in most states no training is required
In most states there is a limit to the amount of Sudafed
you can purchase but no limit on guns and ammunition
The shooter in Aurora, Colorado was able to purchase
6,000 rounds of ammunition online without any question
The Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act of 2015
which required face to face purchases of ammunition,
licensing of ammunition dealers, and reporting regarding
bulk purchases of ammunition would have prevented this
purchase of 6,000 rounds but it was killed by Republicans,
the NRA, and its merry band of cynical lobbyist-whores
This is suicide on a national scale
Americans are killing themselves
with more and more frequency
Where is the unrelenting national outrage?
where are the pounding national protests?
Where are the demands for investigations into the profits
of the NRA and the gun and ammunition manufacturers
This is all BLOOD MONEY profits made on the corpses
of delusional and catastrophically misinformed Americans
What is more sacred the Second Amendment or human life
what does the meaning of freedom mean when you are dead
The statistics noted here were taken from the Brave New Films documentary, “MAKING A KILLING: Guns, Greed, and the NRA.”
To find out more, please visit www.bravenewfilms.org
Copyright © Barry Levy | Year Posted 2016
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment