State Representative Thomas Blackwell on guns and parental responsibility
Correction: The video features State Representative Thomas Blackwell, not State Senator Anthony Williams, as originally indicated:
At Malcolm X Park’s Alternative to Violence Event, State Representative Thomas Blackwell shared his thoughts on some of the sources of violence in Philadelphia. Part way through his speech, he made the surprising admission that he’d never held a real gun in his life. Given the culture of gun ownership in Pennsylvania–the sheer ubiquity of even legal guns–it can be easy to forget that guns are not part of everyone’s experience. Perhaps adults who are willing to share their stories about living gun-free can serve as role-models for children who might otherwise inevitably incorporate guns into their lives. A mixture of fear and disdain for guns might amount to a kind of abstinence education that actually works.
eR0CK said,
July 30, 2007 @ 5:18 pm
I own a gun, have held a gun, and have shot a gun. While I don’t carry a weapon, I do own one for sport shooting and also for hunting.
The first time I held/fired a gun, I was 8 years old.
Why? This was part of an event that I attended with the Boy Scouts of America.
Between the teaching from my troop leaders and the guidance of those in my family. Today I can own a gun and still maintain a high-level of safety.
I think educating children about guns, how dangerous they are, and how to use/not use a weapon is very important.
Removing all interaction from guns could be a good move, but I look at my personal upbringing and it was the exact opposite.
Just a different viewpoint I wanted to share.
It’s the parents that make the different, IMHO.
andrew said,
July 31, 2007 @ 10:33 am
Thank you for sharing that point of view. I really don’t know how widespread your level of comfort with guns is in the general population. I was just reading a copy of PA Game and Fish with a report on 2006 hunting related shooting incidents. There were just 46 last year, or an incident rate of 4.81 per 100,000 hunters. So there are nearly a million hunters in PA, and only 46 got shot hunting last year.
eR0CK said,
July 31, 2007 @ 2:28 pm
That’s interesting and also not that bad, much less than even a half of percent.
If we look at Philadelphia’s streets, I wonder how many guns are actually registered or were purchased by law abiding citizens?
My guess is probably very few, so outlawing guns or restricting our 2nd amendment rights doesn’t seem like a realistic solution. I know you didn’t come out and say it (heck, you barely alluded to it), but even making guns illegal will not solve this problem since most guns on the streets are illegally bought/sold anyway.
I think teaching gun safety to kids is important, but it’s much more important for parents to raise their children appropriately. Many of those killing people in Philadelphia come from broken homes, at least that’s what I’d think.
andrew said,
August 1, 2007 @ 1:53 pm
Check out the Philly Weekly’s cover story on this very topic! I guess my post was sort of prescient:
http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=15142
eR0CK said,
August 1, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
Excellent story, thanks for the link!
malcolmxpark.org » Armed America in the PW said,
August 1, 2007 @ 10:59 pm
[...] on the heels of this post on Monday, the Philadelphia Weekly has a cover story on a new book by photographer and West [...]