September 13, 2010

HEY!!!!

A teenager was shot several times while on the basketball court outside my son's high school cafeteria at 4:45 in the afternoon. Thankfully it was Sunday. The victim is fighting for his life in hospital with wounds to his head chest and abdomen.

What can I say except get a grip. Channel your anger in more constructive ways. Quit playing with your life as if it were a video-game. The guns have got to go. There's a river of guns coming through the US border and they're ending up in the hands of marginalized kids with little education, few expectations and no dreams for the future.

photo: Citytv.com

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Now that is scary!
My daughter and her husband are about to move to Miami. The odd thing about that place is that shootings reduced considerably when they made it legal to carry a concealed weapon. The thinking there is you are less likely to draw your weapon when you DON'T KNOW if the other guy is carrying!
I just shake my head.
They say it's people, not guns, that kill, but let's be serious here, people without guns can't shoot and kill.

Alan Burnett said...

Frightening, really frightening.

Kat Mortensen said...

Oh, Man! Is the school closed today? That is just so disturbing. I don't know what to say. We never had to worry about that stuff when we were children and now it seems so commonplace in many ways. How is your son feeling about it?

Kat

The Clever Pup said...

Nope. School's open, although there was a flurry of activity on Facebook with kids surmising that they'd be off today.

Noah was initially shocked now sort of unbelieving. A little curious I guess too. I'm nervous for him in the long run, he's a good kid but bullets spray inderterminently. Can you imagine what the teachers have to go through on mornings like this.

The Clever Pup said...

Sorry, Over-reacting. The victim in this shooting is still fighting for life.

The other shooting in Toronto last night resulted in a fatality.

Giulia said...

Well, apparently I wrote too incendiary a comment because a '503' error popped up. (Which is happening a lot everywhere on Blogger.)

I'll try later. But allowing concealed weapons does not lead to safer streets. That's a fantasy. (It's a lot easier to kill a lot more people with a gun. Please see Virginia Tech. The DC sniper.)

Kate Hanley said...

When we first moved to Glenside, outside of Philly, a kid was suspended and arrested for bringing a gun to the Elementary school. It was unloaded but still it's scary. And, by the way, I'm still getting caught up on blog posts - congrats on Paris. It's my favorite city in the world. If I were you, I'd stay in Quartier St. Germain on the left bank near the Seine. Great area for home base and in a very literary section. Have a great time.

Trish and Rob MacGregor said...

This is a sad story that is all too common these days. The problem is the 2nd amendment. When it became the 2nd amendment, the world was a very different place. But the NRA is a powerful lobby. Watch Michael Moore's Bowling for Colombine.

I'm sorry it was so close to home for you.

ratatouille's archives said...

Hi! Clever Pup..
Clever Pup, I'am so very glad to hear that your son is doing alright.The only thing that I hope is he try to put this incident behind him...If that is possible.

Clever Pup said, "There's a river of guns coming through the US border and they're ending up in the hands of marginalized kids with little education, few expectations and no dreams for the future."


Like your previous commenter(s) I'am so very sorry to read this news, but I also find that some young people with an education, great expectation, and a future that appears to be a dream, have killed too!

For instance, the young man from Virginia Tech...he may have suffered with depression, but he had more opportunities than some people that I know of...that are quite the opposite...or on the other end, of the spectrum and they have never resorted(Sp) to a life of crime.(Or senseless violent acts...In other words,I think that some people can create a "false" sense of security if they are of the "mindset" that will never happen on my block, my neighborhood, my community, etc, etc, etc...
I agree with the previous comments it's people that kill not guns and it appears no matter what their background.

I'am of the "mindset" that anyone can "snap" an 18 y/o returning from Iraq, a disadvantage or advantage kid, etc, etc, etc...)
I'am not sure if I can say "thank-you, for sharing, but for the enlightment!

DeeDee ;-(

amourissima said...

I feel sad and unsettled when I read about things like this.

The Clever Pup said...

Deedee, good points. Educated or not, there wouldn't be the issue if there was gun control. In Canada, the ones that want the guns are the wannabe hoods, gangs, drug dealers. They aren't being smuggled across the border into the hands of the depressed. Guns are very hard to buy here.