MARCHING FOR GUN CONTROL

WAKENING UP FROM THE NIGHTMARE

By Stephen Wilson

 

Some dreams you never forget. They convey a vivid and vibrant resonance which leave an

indelible mark on your mind. For instance I

recall I was walking around a school and

entered a gym hall where I heard a lot of

shooting, then coming across some cellar

full of frozen corpses of what looked like

tiny children all laid out. I could hear all kinds

of sirens and then barriers being erected around a school where the police were forbidding

people from entering the school. I could hear

all kinds of weeping, wailing and anguish. Then

I noticed the contorted face of a strange adult

just staring straight at me . I woke up from

this dream feeling shattered. I thought to myself this is not just any dream but an omen of terrible events to come . For in Scotland the belief in the second sight remains quite strong and I have had quite a few unwelcome dreams

about imminent events. I pulled myself together and sketched the face of that odd person I had seen in the dream. Then I phoned my old friend, a teacher, Wayne Rimmer ,who

also happened to be living in Moscow along

with me. I told him : "Look ,I have had a terrible

dream of someone murdering many young

children. Maybe I should warn the police

some where. " Wayne replied : "Have you not

heard the news Stephen ? " I answered :"No

have not. I don't have a T.V. or radio here!"

"Well a madman walked into a school in Scotland and shot dead a lot of school children ". I could hardly believe it. I first

presumed that the mass killings must have

happened in America and Russia! I would

never have guessed it could have happened

in my own country of all places ! I mean after

all , we have far stricter gun laws in Scotland

than America. Scotland is not America.

I later learnt that an embittered and unbalanced businessman who had been thrown out of the scout movement and

shunned by the community for being a

suspected pedophile had entered a school

in Dunblane and shot dead 16 school children

and a teacher as well as wounding many

others . After this ,a mass campaign in

Scotland succeeded in banning all access to

handguns. The figures of the shooting are

exactly the number of those callously murdered in the February 14th American

shooting in Florida : 17. It is perhaps no

accident that the families of the victims of

this former killings which took place on 13th

March 1996 sent a moving message to

the American school children fighting for

tighter gun control. They told them that they

would be with them in spirit on the 24th of

March in America . They offered strong

moral and spiritual support.

The mass demonstrations on the 24th of

March represent an unprecedented event.

Never before have we witnessed such an

enormous mass protest related to gun control.

The main speakers who were survivors of

the shooting gave moving and stirring speeches than can't fail to inspire more movement for change. Speakers stated that if politicians don't do anything to support

gun control they could : 'Vote them out' and that 'prayers and thoughts are not enough'.

One 17 year old student , Edna Chavez,

stated : "Arming teachers will not work, more

security in our schools does not work, zero

tolerance police do not work . They make us

feel like criminals . We should feel supported

and empowered in our schools ".

The granddaughter of Martin Luther King

gave a passionate speech on behalf of all

the African American women who had been

shot dead by police " . Often news reports

don't give adequate or any coverage of those

victims who are just treated as numbers of

some statistics rather than the beautiful

and lively persons they once were.

The school children and their allied adults

seem to know what they are about and how

to go about achieving their aims . Just reading

their recently published manifesto of demands

indicates a highly articulate and sophisticated

stance. The manifesto comprises demands

calling for a ban on the sale of high velocity

semi automatic weapons , an increase in

background checks as well as raising the

minimum purchase of rifles to 21. The

manifesto was originally published in Eagle

Eye. It is worth quoting some of the

manifesto. "We cannot stand idly by as the

country continues to be infected by a plague

of gun violence that seeps into the community

after community does irreparable damage to

the hearts and minds of the American people.'

The manifesto raises the question as to why

it is okay to defend the Second amendment

yet block research into the impact of gun

violence ? Doesn't this violate the First

amendment to free speech and expression?

The absurdity of the current law is expressed

by children who claim : " In a few months

from now, many of us will be turning 18. We

will not be able to drink: we will not be able

to rent a car . Most of us will not be able to

buy hand guns and yet we will be able to

purchase an Ar-15. Why is it that we will be able

to legally obtain a weapon that has the ability

to fire over 150 rounds and kill 17 people in

about 6 minutes?'

....

'We are the firsthand witnesses to the kind of

devastation that gross incompetence and

political inaction can produce.' It seems that

just as in the Hans Christen Anderson tale,

only children can see the emperor is wearing

no clothes. Until everyone else notices the

emperor has lost his senses we will never

truly wake up from recurring nightmares!