Skimming Stones | Sula's Blog | Sula1968 A South African poet, potter and mother
Today’s Daily Prompt is Undo – “If you could un-invent something, what would it be? Discuss why, potential repercussions, or a possible alternative.”
If I could un-invent guns the almost Shakespearean tragedy of Oscar Pistorious’ fall from hero to murderer would not be playing out in our courts. More than that, millions of deaths would never have happened. The victims of shootings would have gone on to fullfill the potential which they were born with. This may be flower child, pie in the sky thinking but I can dream. If the person whom I had a family violence interdict against had owned a gun, more than likely I would not be sitting here writing this. When the court case against this violent person was pending he actually complained that with a criminal record he would not be able to get a gun licence.
On the subject of Oscar Pistorious, I don’t believe his burglar story. It seems that he and Reeva had a fight, he had a rush of hot shit to the brain, took his gun and murdered her. Now a family have lost a daughter and her future wtih all all it’s potential is gone forever. I’m sure that given the opportunity Oscar would go back in time and reverse this terrible deed. If a gun was not an option in his moment of madness this would not have happened.
I know that I can’t un-invent the gun but as John Lennon would say “Imagine”, of course he too died at the wrong end of a gun and what a great great loss to the world that was. Imagine a world without guns, just imagine!
Think of the much publicised shootings over the past year. The souls lost, the agony of loved ones left behind. Don’t come to me with bollocks about the need for a gun for self defence. We live in a free standing house in South Africa, the threat of crime is a daily reality. I honestly believe that owning a gun would put us in a higher risk category, we could die at the sticky end of our own weapon.
Of course even without guns there would be wars, if leaders had to send out troops to attack eachother with sticks of jelly they still would do it or they would be compelled to resort to possibly worse death induciing methods than those already used.
Guns and Ego seem to have a close relationship, a dangerous combination. I have a broad based theory linking willy proportion stats and gun ownership stats but I can’t get enough armed men to drop their rods to prove or disprove this theory.
**** later ****
After posting this link on my FB wall my friend Guy directed me to his News 24 article ‘Is Oscar an irresponsible moron‘, exellent piece
From all accounts… he was a man with tons of rage. If he hadn’t had a gun he probably would have thrown a spear through the door and we would have had the same ending… Sorry to have to be the one to say it.
Thanks for your comment. I’m not so sure that a spear could penetrate a door too easily. If there were no gun there would have been more time to think on his part and more time for her to possibly calm him through the closed door or scream for help. Oscar claimed in his affidavit that there was a ladder outside the window, she may have used it to escape. Sadly we will never know if there would have been another outcome.
Heh, I commented more for amusement I suppose, sorry. Like you, I am pretty sure he did it on purpose, but he will probably get a shorter sentence from fame, but still jail time.
I don’t know if there are stats for this kind of thing, but something tells me that more innocent people have been shot at than nocent ones. Meaning, guns are doing more bad than good.