Swans Commentary » swans.com June 15, 2009  

 

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by Jan Baughman

 

A Cartoon

 

 

(Swans - June 15, 2009) 

 

Summer is upon us, and while we're packing for that time-honored family vacation to enjoy one of America's fine National Parks, what will our fellow campers be packing? Loaded guns, thanks to legislation slipped into a "credit card reform" bill that was passed by Congress in May. Said bill was intended to protect Americans from arbitrary changes in interest rates, exorbitant fees, and double billing, among other predatory-lending practices, but our elected officials had to be held at gun-point in order to pass a measure that would protect not only their credit-card constituents but their card-carrying NRA members as well. The gun proponents argued that bearing arms in the parks would ensure our safety. Those of us -- bear, raccoon, or human -- not packing heat may want to think twice about that moonlit, midnight stroll that puts us at one with (unarmed) nature.

The gun amendment to the credit-card reform bill was sponsored by Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma (okay...), who said that "Even though parks are relatively safe, oftentimes the best deterrent is for criminals to know someone else might also have a gun." In similar reasoning, Texas is considering a bill to allow students and professors who are licensed firearm owners to carry concealed weapons on college campuses in order to avoid another Virginia Tech-like massacre. Should each of us pack heat in order to be safe at work, the post office, church, school, the Holocaust Museum, and in our own homes, given that guns have become ubiquitous, reactionary tendencies are on the rise, and economic pressures are pushing people to the brink of desperation?

Here's an unoriginal, revolutionary, thought: What if firearms were banned, and none of us was armed?

Silly thinking, for sure. So to be safe, check your credit card statement regularly, including the fine print, and tread lightly while enjoying your summer vacation, lest your fellow campers are bearing arms.

 

 

Resources

Senate backs allowing loaded guns in national parks, jeopardizing credit card reform, Trish Turner, Fox News, May 12, 2009.

Texas campuses may allow students to carry concealed weapons, Howard Witt, The Chicago Tribune, April 27, 2009.

 

 

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Other Cartoons by Jan Baughman

 

Internal Resources

Patterns which Connect

America the 'beautiful'

 

About the Author

Jan Baughman on Swans (with bio).

 

Legalese

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