Off the Editor’s Desk – 6-9-2021
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Don’t take your guns to town, Bill; Leave your guns at home!
Don’t take your guns to town, Bill; Leave your guns at home!
“A young cowboy named Billy Joe grew restless on the farm,” those were some of the words from a 1969 hit song “Don’t Take your Guns to Town,” sung by Johnny Cash.
Maybe we can educate everyone in this country to live by the title of that song, ”Don’t take your guns to town.”
Every week we listened to the national news reports telling about the number of shootings in every large city in the nation. Last month was the first anniversary of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis Police officer. I watched as a local television reporter, who was at the Floyd Memorial in Minneapolis on the first anniversary of his death, was broadcasting as gunshots rang out sending everyone present to find shelter.
Later I found out that the shots were over a parking spot. Leave your guns at home son, should be our cry. There is no reason that we need to pack a pistol or long gun in our daily lives, but still the bad boys and girls carry them and someone gets hurt or dead. “Don’t Take your Guns to Town.”
I am a big supporter of the Second Amendment so we all can enjoy the ownership of guns if we so choose. But, “Don’t Take your Guns to Town.” There is no reason to take your gun to town. Going to the shooting range, hunting, or going to a gun show is a reason to take your guns out.
Congress will not be able to stop our gun violence. No matter what type of law they could come up with, it will be violated by anyone that wants to carry a gun. Our laws could not control booze consumption during prohibition, it is not controlling the drug use in this country, can’t stop people from traveling faster than the posted speed limit, and many other laws that we violate.
So my fellow Americans it is up to us to control the gun violence in this country. “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town.”
As I was writing this piece, I thought of Philando Castile, a 32 year old African American man, who was fatally shot by a St. Anthony, Minnesota police officer five years ago, July 6th, following a traffic stop.
From information that I was able to put together, during the traffic stop Castile told the officer that he had a gun, which he was licensed to carry, and reports stated that Castile did not reach for the gun. The officer shot seven times hitting Castile with five shots.
According to some of the findings of Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, “Castile was not resisting or fleeing, there was absolutely no criminal intent exhibited by him throughout this encounter, he volunteered in good faith that he had a firearm and he was accompanied, in his vehicle by a woman and a young child.”
I cannot help wondering that if Castile had not had a firearm with him, at that traffic stop five years ago, he probably would be alive today.
The police officer, Jeronimo Yanez was charged with second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm. After five days of deliberation, he was acquitted of all charges by a jury trail. Yanez was immediately fired by the City of St. Anthony. A wrongful death suit was filed by the Castile family against the City of St. Anthony and was settled for $3.8 million.
I wonder if officer Yanez had information about the number of times that Castile had interactions with police. According to reports, the police had stopped Castile at least 49 times in 13 years for minor traffic and equipment violations, the majority of which were dismissed.
“Leave your guns at home, Bill.”
Thanks for reading!
~Carlton