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Big Guns, Big Tobacco, This is a Public Health Emergency
“What is wrong with us?” Governor Gavin Newsom asked after the latest mass shooting, this time in San Jose. Mass shootings are no longer something to be shocked about or surprised about. They are a daily occurrence in this country. The question was almost rhetorical, but we do have an answer to this question.
We have allowed the gun industry to become as powerful as big tobacco. In the process, we have a bona fide public health emergency that we are not doing much about. The excuse is that we all have a right to bear arms, while conveniently forgetting the second half, in a well-regulated militia.
At this point states like Texas want to allow anybody to carry, no training, no permit, no proof that you need to carry. It is almost perforative, as we see people going to Target with an AR-15 in their backs, or a gun strapped to their hip. Do you know where you see this? Apart from Israel, where soldiers on leave carry their assigned weapons everywhere, nowhere else in the world. Incidentally, Israel has very tough requirements for civilians to own a weapon. Most guns are registered and assigned to people while in the service.
Israel is a favorite example of open carry by many in the far right. They believe this is a fundamental right of everybody in Israel. It is not. Do you know what Israel does not…