Important News Flash. The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down Washington D.C.’s ban on handguns, saying individuals have the right to own guns.
In a 5-to-4 landmark decision Thursday, the high court struck down the 32-year-old ban, saying it violates the second amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The court also struck down the city’s requirement that legally-owned firearms be equipped with trigger locks or kept disassembled in the home, saying that makes it impossible for citizens to use arms for the lawful purpose of self-defense.
The court noted that long-standing gun restrictions remain in place – such as prohibitions on felons and the mentally ill from possessing guns and restrictions on carrying firearms in schools and government buildings.
Facts You Need to Know: The number of children and teens in America killed by guns in 2005 would fill 120 public school classrooms of 25 students each.
- In 2005, 69 preschoolers were killed by firearms compared to 53 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
- Since 1979, gun violence has snuffed out the lives of 104,419 children and teens in America. Sixty percent of them were White; 37 percent were Black.
- The number of Black children and teens killed by gunfire since 1979 is more than 10 times the number of Black citizens of all ages lynched in American history.
- The number of children and teens killed by guns since 1979 would fill 4,177 public school classrooms of 25 students each.
As an American Canadian who has lived most of her life in Canada, a country where firearms (other than hunting rifles, duly licensed) are not allowed, I can tell you that our crime rate is per capita 100 times less than in the USA. Similar statistics are born out in Western Europe.
Furthermore, I have no understanding of why we continue to produce and laud movies, video games, music that incites and lauds violence when there is scientific evidence about the clearly damaging effect this has on brain chemistry, levels of aggression, emotional imbalance, violence etc. Popular entertainment that feeds of ugly, nasty and bigoted stereotypes of African Americans, overshadowing the legacy of great black Americans who contributed greatly to their country in ways that helped shape music, science, the arts, human rights. Entertainment that I consider to be an insidious form of bigotry.
I ask that fellow Americans reading this blog posting and pay it forward to others. While too many of us feel powerless to be change agents, this is in and of itself an illusion, because in an interconnected world the power of one simple citizen taking a stand and encouraging others to do the same can be the greatest power of all.
It is time for a change, and as a woman (the sex that has been traditionally marginalized), as a Jewess (the most hated and perpetually discriminated against ethnic group in history) and as an individual who was a visible minority when I crashed through a cement ceiling to become the first woman CEO of a steel company I believe with all my heart that we are living in an era where it is the power, the strength the faith and the courage of those who have been traditionally marginalized and are committed to building fences around their noblest thoughts, actions and goals rather that becoming victims or staying locked in a victim mentality who will become extraordinary agents and leaders for positive change.
I also believe that there are a growing number of people who have never been marginalized but see the human, moral and economic imperative to start building and sustaining the triple bottom line. People who recognize that the major problems we face individually and collectively could be solved if we moved away from an emphasis on unbridled greed and ego. People who believe that we are one people, sharing one world under G-d. People who will also step up to the plate and become agents and leaders for positive change. The onus is on each one of us and all of us to stand up for what really matters by embracing our ability to become personal leaders in an era where leadership is too often conspicious in its absence.