Gun Control: Not one more

On May 11, United States army veteran Tommy Yancy, who suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, was savagely beaten and killed in Imperial County, California.

Back on April 18, 19-year-old honor student and recent high school graduate, Adrian Parra, was shot to death in Salton City, CA while on the way to take his girlfriend on a movie and dinner date.

Last October, 13-year old middle school student Andy Lopez was murdered when he was on his way to return his friend’s airsoft gun, who lived just a few houses down.

Perhaps most sickening, happened on May 28 in Habersham County, Georgia, which placed 19-month-old Bounkham Phonesavanh in intensive care where he currently remains. Phonesavanh’s face is ripped open and he’s currently in a medically induced coma, the result of a stun grenade exploding as it landed in his crib where he slept.

But these incidents were not at the hands of a deranged lunatic such as Elliot Rodger or John Zawahri, nor were they at the hands of gun toting, National Rifle Association maniacs who are quick to fire at anything that moves. These acts of savagery were committed by United States police officers.

Little research is needed to find other similar incidents, as they often go unreported by mainstream news. Listing them all would look more like a war memorial.

And perhaps that’s exactly what it is. A war on the impoverished and working class, on the have-nots, on people of color; a silent war that continually goes unnoticed when mass shootings, such as the most recent one in Isla Vista, occur.

Just like clockwork, the bickering and childish banter between pro and anti-gun control advocates and politicians alike stirred anew after Rodger’s killing spree.

The arguments placed on both sides of the gun control debate are valid. Americans do have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms, which shall not be infringed upon. And yes, something is terribly wrong when people with documented mental health issues are able to have such easy access to purchase guns.

However, the time I start to veer away from the anti-gun supporters, and begin to fall in line with the NRA types, is when they start their ridiculous diatribes about how Americans don’t need to have guns at all, that the second amendment is outdated, and only law enforcement and military should have access to certain types of weaponry.

You'll have to forgive me if I'm more than a little apprehensive about continuing to give police unchecked power in the same sense that the British army had in the American colonies during the 1700s.

The only difference between U.S. police and the British Redcoats is the uniform and the time period. Innocent Americans were being murdered back then, culminating with the Boston Massacre.

If King George...I'm sorry I mean President Barack Obama, and the anti-gun advocates are serious about getting, "weapons of war," off American streets, they need to start with law enforcement. Otherwise they have absolutely no right to demand innocent Americans give up their constitutional right to self defense.

Until they address the current militarization and power of police, I cannot take them seriously. I don't mean to disrespect any victims of gun massacres. My heart goes out to those who lost loves ones in Santa Barbara, and I hope they are able to find peace. But when I hear Richard Martinez, father of shooting victim Christopher Martinez, screaming to the media about his son's right to live, I can't help but ask, what about Parra's right to live? What about Lopez's right to live? Are those children's lives worth any less? What about the other countless inner city children who are murdered by police, do they not deserve the same right to live?

When I see groups like Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense In America, rally on and on about children needing to be safe from gun violence and blaming the NRA for, "American families being destroyed," I wonder, were the families of Yancy and Lopez not destroyed? Is Phonesavanh not worthy of the same safety? Is our society so backwards that a toddler having his face nearly blown off by a police grenade does not generate any public outcry?

As much as I may disagree with his views on social issues, I must applaud Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his supporters for standing up to government thugs. The scene was reminiscent of when brave and noble patriots like Paul Revere, Samuel Prescott, and William Dawes rallied the militia with cries of, "The British are coming!"

With another Memorial Day come and gone, we should take time to remember true American war heroes, such as Captain John Parker and the other men of the Massachusetts Militia who stood up to tyranny and oppression on the morning of April 19, 1775 on the Lexington Green.

And like the cry that's been echoed in the wake of the Isla Vista shooting, we need to look at the brutality and savagery carried out against innocent Americans by police, and declare, "Not one more."