My father in law had a lot of guns. He never had to protect himself period. Don't know who was coming after him. He came to visit us one time and the "men" went out to practice at a shooting range. I had better eye sight being a better shot than my husband. We didn't tell him. I know how to shoot but never owned one. Just don't like it. Forget even picking up a rife. Too heavy.
We are fortunate to live on the edge of a nature preserve, and are often visited by deer, foxes, wild turkeys, and various critters. Our pleasure comes from photographing wild animals. I have just never understood the desire among so many others to shoot them. I don't buy the argument that it's for food. We aren't living in the wild frontier days. These folks just love killing. Look at the so-called "big game" hunters who spend a fortune going on safari to kill lions and elephants and giraffes. Don Trump Jr. proudly displays all his "kills," standing over these dead creatures with his big gun and a big smile. Must be some kind of big macho-man thing - which is usually a cover for insecure men.
Anyway, the most disturbing thing about these photos is the almost-joyous faces.
Americans clearly have a LOVE of GUNS.
A big-church pastor recently said that mass shootings are the "price we pay for the 2nd Amendment". It's all very disturbing.
ps, thanks for your comments, Judith. This isn't a high-volume site like Robert Reich, but the hundred or so subscribers care about these issues, and I appreciate the civil discourse, especially among folks who radically disagree. (lot of hard-core Trumpers here, but at least they don't believe we eat babies)
And some wonder why we have a gun problem in this country. Don't get me wrong, I am a licensed gun owner. But, there's a massive difference between owning guns and teaching family members what weapons can do if used improperly versus these photos that appear to be solely about second amendment rights and deflecting the responsibilities associated with gun ownership.
what disturbs me is the gleeful looks on many faces; this is a love of guns that has nothing to do with hunting or self-defence, this is a joyous celebration of guns in a nation that is in a league of its own when it comes to gun deaths.
I don't think this is what the Founding Fathers had in mind about a well-regulated militia.
And most likely these poor children will grow up and teach their kids the same. Saw statistics the other day on shootings by under 6 yr olds, and there were quite a few. Not a 'single tragic event'. And a 10 yr old shot his mother in the face in the last few days. Yeah, get more guns and make America great again..? Thank you for the article and the pictures.
Hello Frank, and thank you for your comment; I'm not trying to propagandize a single tragic event. Let's ignore that event.
The Mayor of a town called for a nationwide debate, and these pictures represent one side of that debate - the full-scale approval (and celebration) of guns by parents and children seen in these pictures. One could say it's a form of "grooming". The final picture shows Kyle Rittenhouse celebrating guns at different ages.
It is the happy, almost joyous, looks on their faces - from parents to their children - that worries me. Guns guns guns, happy happy happy. In the country with the highest rate of gun violence in the world. U.S. is in a league of its own, and I'm suggesting maybe these types of celebrations of guns is some kind of foundational level on which that national gun carnage is established.
As for your other comment ("while ignoring the mass of events that are politically inconvenient") I don't understand what you mean. What am I ignoring?
My father in law had a lot of guns. He never had to protect himself period. Don't know who was coming after him. He came to visit us one time and the "men" went out to practice at a shooting range. I had better eye sight being a better shot than my husband. We didn't tell him. I know how to shoot but never owned one. Just don't like it. Forget even picking up a rife. Too heavy.
We are fortunate to live on the edge of a nature preserve, and are often visited by deer, foxes, wild turkeys, and various critters. Our pleasure comes from photographing wild animals. I have just never understood the desire among so many others to shoot them. I don't buy the argument that it's for food. We aren't living in the wild frontier days. These folks just love killing. Look at the so-called "big game" hunters who spend a fortune going on safari to kill lions and elephants and giraffes. Don Trump Jr. proudly displays all his "kills," standing over these dead creatures with his big gun and a big smile. Must be some kind of big macho-man thing - which is usually a cover for insecure men.
Anyway, the most disturbing thing about these photos is the almost-joyous faces.
Americans clearly have a LOVE of GUNS.
A big-church pastor recently said that mass shootings are the "price we pay for the 2nd Amendment". It's all very disturbing.
ps, thanks for your comments, Judith. This isn't a high-volume site like Robert Reich, but the hundred or so subscribers care about these issues, and I appreciate the civil discourse, especially among folks who radically disagree. (lot of hard-core Trumpers here, but at least they don't believe we eat babies)
And some wonder why we have a gun problem in this country. Don't get me wrong, I am a licensed gun owner. But, there's a massive difference between owning guns and teaching family members what weapons can do if used improperly versus these photos that appear to be solely about second amendment rights and deflecting the responsibilities associated with gun ownership.
what disturbs me is the gleeful looks on many faces; this is a love of guns that has nothing to do with hunting or self-defence, this is a joyous celebration of guns in a nation that is in a league of its own when it comes to gun deaths.
I don't think this is what the Founding Fathers had in mind about a well-regulated militia.
And most likely these poor children will grow up and teach their kids the same. Saw statistics the other day on shootings by under 6 yr olds, and there were quite a few. Not a 'single tragic event'. And a 10 yr old shot his mother in the face in the last few days. Yeah, get more guns and make America great again..? Thank you for the article and the pictures.
Never let any single tragic event escape from propagandized political opportunity while ignoring the mass of events that are politically inconvenient.
Hello Frank, and thank you for your comment; I'm not trying to propagandize a single tragic event. Let's ignore that event.
The Mayor of a town called for a nationwide debate, and these pictures represent one side of that debate - the full-scale approval (and celebration) of guns by parents and children seen in these pictures. One could say it's a form of "grooming". The final picture shows Kyle Rittenhouse celebrating guns at different ages.
It is the happy, almost joyous, looks on their faces - from parents to their children - that worries me. Guns guns guns, happy happy happy. In the country with the highest rate of gun violence in the world. U.S. is in a league of its own, and I'm suggesting maybe these types of celebrations of guns is some kind of foundational level on which that national gun carnage is established.
As for your other comment ("while ignoring the mass of events that are politically inconvenient") I don't understand what you mean. What am I ignoring?
I can’t put into words how sickened and horrified I feel seeing these photos.
All those happy gun-totin' faces - what could possibly go wrong?
I find picture #5 (big family in white shirts) the scariest.
Is this what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they said "A well regulated Militia"?
"weaving poetry into prose" - yes, that's what you're doing, Libor, and doing it well.