God, Guns and Guts Made [the] U.S. GREAT….
Pistolero magazine
Between 1963 and 1973, while the war in Vietnam was taking 46,121
lives, guns here in America killed 84,644 civilians.
Jervis Anderson, “Guns in American Life”
Why are guns the only unregulated consumer products in America?
We regulate toy guns and teddy bears, but we do not regulate a
product that kills 4,600 children in a year.
Marian Wright Edelman (1999)
In June of 2012, Colby Weathers walked into the Odessa Gun and Pawn shop in Missouri and purchased a 45 caliber Hi -Point pistol.
She went home, loaded two bullets into the magazine, and shot her father, Tex Delano.
She then texted her mother, “Dad is dead.”
An open and shut case of premeditated murder.
However, there’s more to the story.
Colby Weathers was a paranoid schizophrenic . In 2007, she complained that she was hearing voices and that a chip had been implanted in her brain.
She had been hospitalized several times and the Social Security Administration determined she was unfit to work.
In May of 2012, the Odessa shop had sold Colby a gun which her parents took away before she could harm herself or others.
Two days before the murder occurred she went back to the gun shop.
Janet Delana, her mother, called and spoke with Derrick Dady, the store manager.
She informed him that her daughter was mentally ill and had attempted suicide. Lest there be a problem of identification, Janet
Delana gave the proprietor Colby’s name, date of birth and Social Security number. In spite of this knowledge, Dady put profit before compassion and made the sale.
The case was resolved out of court with a $2.2 million settlement.
Odessa Gun and Pawn was found guilty of negligence and Colby is serving time in prison.
But this case has important national implications. Gun dealers have an obligation to use good judgment, carry out federally mandated background checks and not sell to every person who enters the store.
There is precedent for this expectation.
Cashiers in supermarkets cannot sell tobacco to underage purchasers and bartenders cannot serve liquor to inebriated customers.
Derrick Dady is what is known as a “bad apple” dealer.
This is defined as one who ignores the law and may engage in “straw purchases”…when one person buys a weapon for another while lying about who really owns the gun.
Dan Gross of the Brady Campaign points out that “A small and dangerous group of firearms vendors are responsible for the toll of gun violence across the United States.”
What does the future portend?
Throughout his campaign for the presidency, Donald Trump made no secret of where he stood on this issue.
He vowed that he would “totally” protect the Second Amendment, streamline background checks, abolish gun-free zones at schools, and implement a national right to carry in all 50 states.
Talk about loving your guns!
Five days after his election, Trump formed a 64 member Second Amendment coalition.
Members came from the National Rifle Association, pro-gun members of the House, and representatives of the firearms industry.
This is similar to asking the fox to guard the hen-house. On Feb. 1, 2017, Trump invited a group of distinguished Americans to the White House to garner support for his
Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.
Seated right next to the president was Wayne LaPierre of the NRA.
This reminded me of inviting your “crazy uncle” to Thanksgiving dinner, but it could simply have been a thank you for the NRA endorsement.
Just when you think it is safe to go back in the water, you discover that according to the Brady Center “The Senate is poised to vote on a bill that would make it easier for people with dangerous mental illnesses to obtain guns.”
As Lenin said “one step forward, two steps back.”
The problem we face is our national delusion about the Second Amendment
Contrary to popular belief, It is not what keeps America safe.
We, as a people, have had a love affair with guns from colonial times through the days of the “Wild West,” and up to the present.
But there is a price to pay for this romance. Unlike other “civilized” nations we have had four presidents (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy) assassinated and two others (Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan who were shot but survived.
The battle for sensible gun control will go on as it has for the past decades.
On a lighter note, President Trump informed the NRA he was reversing his position on the Second Amendment since he did not believe it was right to “arm bears.”
Dr. Hal Sobel
Great Neck
