Terrorism or Something Else

Hi Humans,
I imagine you have heard about the horrific mass gun murders committed in San Bernardino today. In the news there has been a discussion as to whether the crime was terrorism or not. But is there really a difference? The result is the same. Innocent humans are dead. Either way, the crime is committed by small minded sociopathic murderers who feel the need to kill to inflate their egos and have access to weapons. They kill for the sake of killing and justify it as a perverse expression of their religion or as an answer to some personal feeling of persecution. But really whether you call it terrorism or something else, it is murder. We dogs do not kill for religion because we do not think so sophistically, and we are not gun anarchists because we don't have access to guns.
Chloe

Political Language

Hi Humans,
It is interesting how you can tell a human's political affiliation by what he says when he is talking about something other than politics. You humans, especially politicians, have a way of saying things that are politically correct rather than speaking directly about the issue.
For example, I am sure you have heard about the terrible gun murder in Colorado Springs. Today on CNN the governor of Colorado and the mayor of Colorado Springs were interviewed. The governor stated that there have been  too many mass murders in the USA, and something needs to be done about it. What was implied but not said is that guns are too available to every screwball who wishes to shoot other humans for whatever reason or just for the fun of killing. On the other hand, the mayor gave a wishy wishy desire for something to be done but said one must not go against the Constitution. One can tell from what they said that the governor is a Democrat and the mayor is a Republican. And looking them both up on the internet confirms this suspicion. The governor implied but did not directly place the blame where it belongs on the gun anarchy in the USA. The mayor put the special interests of the NRA and the gun anarchists ahead of the safety and welfare of the citizens and his own police.
We dogs are more direct.
Chloe

Mr. Trump and Mathematics

Hi Mr. Trump,
I understand you said something like the victims of the Paris murders should have had guns. I supposed you said that because defense of gun anarchy in the USA as opposed to gun sanity in other developed countries is the mantra of the Radical Right whom you are now courting to win the Republican nomination. 
Well, Mr. Trump (and other gun anarchists). These are the facts.
Including the 2990 victims of 9/11, in the 12 years from 2001 to 2013, deaths from terrorism in the USA were 3380 or an average of 282/year. Since the US population has been around 300 million lately that is about 1 victim in a little over 1 million people per year. That is too much and needs to be corrected and avenged. But compare that to the 33,875/year or in other words 8,856 per million people killed in gun violence each year in the USA, and you see gun anarchy is an even greater threat. Compare that to the 30 per million deaths per year related to guns in France (population 60 million). Even if you add the 150 people killed this year by terrorist guns in France, it pales in comparison to the gun deaths per population in the USA each year. So the numbers show that simply arming the civilian population in France would not have made France a safer place. That simplistic pseudo-cure would have been worse than the disease. Bigger minds than Mr. Trump are needed to figure out the best defence against terrorism. Even a little dog like me can see that.
Chloe

More Guns Will Protect? Crazy!

Hi Humans,
The gun violence continues too frequently. The NRA says the answer is more guns. That makes as much sense as saying that the cure for AIDS is more promiscuous sex. We dogs would never believe such nonsense. And you humans are supposed to be the ones with big brains.
Chloe

Gun Murder in Oregon

Hi Humans,
Well humans in America have done it again. The present weak gun laws have allowed another crazy human to acquire guns and kill multiple students and a teacher at a college in Oregon. It continues over and over again, and nothing is done to make America safe from this insanity. Guns are controlled in all the other advanced countries in the world, but not here. The President is ready to correct it, but his hands are tied by a Congress and many state legislatures that are beholden to the NRA. They self servingly say the answer is more guns. The truth is more guns = more gun homicides as reported in

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.

Scott Wilk, the assemblyman in our neighborhood, Porter Ranch, California promotes the Second Amendment. That is code for favoring gun anarchy. He also voted against a proposed law banning concealed weapons in schools in California. Fortunately we have other representatives in our state who are not so small minded.
These rampages will continue to recur until the people of the USA wake up and vote the cronies of the NRA out of Congress.

Chloe

Another Homicide by a Radical with a Gun

Hi Humans,
So we hear on the news that a crazy radical right wing gun nut killed 2 people and wounded 9 others in a Louisiana movie theater before he shot himself when confronted by the police. It is a too familiar story and one that could have been prevented by sane gun laws. Yet the NRA and the gun bullies continue to preach gun anarchy. In the building in Chicago where we spend part of the year, there is a sign next to the front door that invites gunmen into the common areas of the building as long as they are present for lawful purposes. As though that would be make the building more safe? In the same building dogs are not allowed in the common areas. But dogs would be a better deterrent to crime than guns would ever be. Maybe a criminal might not be phased by a little dog like me (although if not seen my bark might be loud and scary), but some of my big tough pit bull colleagues that I meet in the elevator would frighten away any criminal more than some little human amateur vigilante with a gun. Research has shown a positive relationship between private gun ownership and homicides:

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.

One is more likely to be killed by a neighbor with a gun who goes beserk than by an intruder. So if you want to be safe get rid of your gun and get a dog.
Chloe

Easy Access to Guns

Hi Humans,
The gunman who killed all those people in the church in Charleston, South Carolina should not have had access to a gun. But in the gun anarchy you humans have created, easy access to guns keeps causing tragedy over and over again. And you look down on us dogs!
Chloe