Human Shields and Crossfire

Hi Humans,
I feel bad for all the dogs and humans and other creatures caught in the cross fire of conflicts all over the world. As a Jewish dog, I am particularly concerned about the rockets, tunnels, and war in Israel and Gaza. It is a tragedy no matter who or what is at fault. As a dog, I can not understand how the Hamas humans can use their fellow humans as shields to protect their military arsenals. Only humans can use tragedy to further their stupid goals. My advice is stop shooting rockets and attacking through tunnels into Israel, take the Egyptian cease fire offer (as Israel has already offered to do). Then sort things out. As long as you make unrealistic demands, the suffering will continue. We dogs are known as territorial, but nothing like you guys, and not nearly as cynical.
Chloe

Hooray for Governor Brown of California

Hi Humans,
Hooray for Governor Brown of California for signing into law a bill to make single shot pistols subject to handgun safety requirements. Until now single shot pistols were exempt from California safety requirements for semi-automatic handguns. But gun dealers were getting around the law for semi-automatic handgun safety by temporarily configuring semi-automatic guns into single shot pistols at the time of sale and then configuring them back into the semi-automatic mode. So my complements to the Governor for standing up to the gun lobby. They said it eliminates more guns used "for lawful purposes." And what are these "lawful purposes?" For protection? Against whom? If there were no guns on the street, one would not need a gun for protection. That is what the police are for. Actually semi-automatic firearms of any kind should be outlawed for private individuals. If we must have private guns (I don't know why), then they should all be single shot and tightly regulated.
Chloe

A New Amendment to Clarify the Second Amendment

Hi Humans,
There is a question as to the interpretation of the Second Amendment. The gun lobby and the NRA interpret it as guns for everyone of any kind and in any number. Those who favor gun regulation focus on the fact that the amendment establishes the right of a state to have a militia. The Supreme Court, having a slight majority of right wing judges, has with its big brains ruled in favor of the gun people. Therefore now it is time to make a new amendment clarifying the Second Amendment, which will say that Second Amendment only establishes state militias (the National Guard). the new amendment should also make strict Federal Control of the possession by private individuals of all kinds of forearms so that the American people will be safe from gun violence (like the other civilized nations) and so that the police won't be outgunned by the criminals and gun nuts.
It won't happen overnight, but you the American people have to start by telling your representatives in Congress that this is what you want, and by voting out of office the senators and congressmen who pander to the gun lobby.
Chloe

Gun Danger from Friends and Relatives

Hi Humans,
I know I have been talking about this on previous blog entries, but I thought I would summarize what it all means. Gun homicides in the course of robberies occurs more often in poor countries. It has been shown that in the USA and in other developed countries (Western Europe, British Isles, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan) the per cent of homicides that occur in the course of robberies are relatively small. There is also a direct correlation between gun ownership and homicides per population. The USA has the most gun owners in the developed countries and the most homicides. The UK has extremely low gun ownership and extremely low homicides. So if the vast majority of homicides do not occur in the course of robberies, when and by whom do they occur? Most homicides are done by friends, neighbors, and relatives who fly off the handle in disputes and have access to guns. Drinking alcohol can lower the threshold. Gangs members sometimes shoot and kill members of rival gangs for whatever reason. Most mass murders in the USA (like Sandy Hook) were done by people who obtained guns legally (according to the laws in America as they are today). So the argument by the NRA and the gun lobby that more private gun owners means more protection from gun violence is simply self serving nonsense. The facts show that as far as safety of life and limb goes, there is greater danger of being killed or maimed in the USA by a "legal" gun owner who goes beserk than by a robber. But what do I know? I'm just a dog.
Chloe

Which Gunmen are the Most Dangerous?

 

Hi Humans,
The NRA says that more guns will mean less murders because they say law abiding gun owners provide protection from criminals. I assume they imply that vigilante amateur gun owners will provide quicker protection than professional police. Actually the opposite is true as demonstrated by scientific study instead of the B.S. that the NRA pulls out of the air. The states with higher gun ownership have higher homicide rates as demonstrated by a recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Also statistics published by UNODOC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) report that only 5% of homicides in the USA occur in the course of robberies. Most homicides are committed by relatives, friends, and neighbors. This means that one is more likely to be shot and killed by a gun owning neighbor or relative who goes beserk or angry than a robber, and therefore one has more to fear from the "lawful" gun owners than criminals. But what do I know. I'm just a dog.
Chloe

In the Neighborhood

Hi Humans,
When Dad and I go strolling around the Streeterville neighborhood in Chicago, most buildings (including residential ones) either have a no gun sign like the one pictured above or no sign one way or the other. But the Board of our building, in their great wisdom, choose to display a sign which says guns are allowed in the common areas of the building. They are out of step with the community. To say that allowing guns in the halls of the building prevents crime is not true. If we dogs were on the Board, we would have more common sense.
Chloe

Gun Ownership and Gun Homicide

Hi Humans,
The NRA says more guns in the community creates greater protection from gun crimes. It doesn't make sense to this little doggie, but many humans with their big human brains believe that stuff. We dogs are not so gullible. Anyway, a research study was done last year at the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health and published in the American Journal of Public Health which correlated gun ownership with homicide rates in each state in the USA. And surprise surprise, more guns = more gun homicides!
Here is a copy of the abstract in PUBMED (US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health )

Am J Public Health. 2013 Nov;103(11):2098-105. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301409. Epub 2013 Sep 12.

The relationship between gun ownership and firearm homicide rates in the United States, 1981-2010.
Siegel M¹, Ross CS, King C 3rd.
Author information
Michael Siegel is with the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Craig S. Ross is with Virtual Media Resources, Natick, MA. Charles King III is with Greylock McKinnon Associates, Cambridge, and Pleiades Consulting Group, Lincoln, MA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
We examined the relationship between levels of household firearm ownership, as measured directly and by a proxy-the percentage of suicides committed with a firearm-and age-adjusted firearm homicide rates at the state level.
METHODS:
We conducted a negative binomial regression analysis of panel data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting Systems database on gun ownership and firearm homicide rates across all 50 states during 1981 to 2010. We determined fixed effects for year, accounted for clustering within states with generalized estimating equations, and controlled for potential state-level confounders.
RESULTS:
Gun ownership was a significant predictor of firearm homicide rates (incidence rate ratio = 1.009; 95% confidence interval = 1.004, 1.014). This model indicated that for each percentage point increase in gun ownership, the firearm homicide rate increased by 0.9%.
CONCLUSIONS:
We observed a robust correlation between higher levels of gun ownership and higher firearm homicide rates. Although we could not determine causation, we found that states with higher rates of gun ownership had disproportionately large numbers of deaths from firearm-related homicides.