It's hard to believe that it's been three years to the date that the Tuscon shooting took place, when nineteen people, including Arizona House Representative Gabrielle Giffords, were shot. Six people died and Giffords barely survived a shot to her head, a shot that, to this day, gives her suffering.
What has been done to prevent a tragedy like the one in Arizona from happening again? Nothing, it seems. Despite the vast majority of Americans and National Rifle Association members supporting greater background checks on guns (when my family and I were living in the United States, the Democrats, Republicans and Independents we met all supported them, too, and we lived in an area where almost everybody owned a gun), a bill that would have increased said checks failed in the Senate. In addition, despite all the calls that were made to help address mental health problems, nothing has been done about that, either.
It's a shame that paranoia over a potential repeal of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is preventing anything from being done, even something as simple as educating people about violence or increasing awareness of mental health problems. I don't think that Second Amendment supporters even have anything to fear, for few American politicians, if any, would ever vote for an outright ban on guns. The Second Amendment itself will not get repealed anytime in the near or foreseeable future: To introduce a new amendment with the purpose of repealing another, the state legislatures of three-quarters of the states would need to approve it...and that's just not going to happen against the Second Amendment.
I once again made the mistake of reading the comments section of a Tuscon shooting-related article. I had foolishly hoped that people would perhaps pay their respects to all the victims and their families, given that it's been three years since the shooting, but instead it was a hate-filled thread with nothing but anger being directed at Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly. I found it both infuriating and upsetting.
Showing posts with label Tuscon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tuscon. Show all posts
Wednesday, 8 January 2014
Monday, 23 January 2012
Gabrielle Giffords (follow-up)
On the one year anniversary of the Tuscon shooting, I wrote a post about Gabrielle Giffords (Rep. D-AZ). Among what I wrote was the following:
"Now a year on, it still is not known what Giffords will decide on when it comes to her political career. I would love for her to remain in Congress, but I understand that it would probably put additional stress on her if she did."
Giffords announced yesterday that she would be resigning this week to concentrate on her recovery. As I said before, personally I thought it would be great for to remain as a representative, but I knew it would likely impede her health if she had to face the stress of another election so soon. However, despite her stating that she is going to step down, Giffords has also said that she does want to return to public service one day.
Here is her recent video:
After watching the video, I am still truly amazed at how well Giffords has improved...and I am again glad that she has not lost her brilliant smile. I hope she will return to Congress one day, but for now, it seems that the best course of action for her is to rest and recover.
"Now a year on, it still is not known what Giffords will decide on when it comes to her political career. I would love for her to remain in Congress, but I understand that it would probably put additional stress on her if she did."
Giffords announced yesterday that she would be resigning this week to concentrate on her recovery. As I said before, personally I thought it would be great for to remain as a representative, but I knew it would likely impede her health if she had to face the stress of another election so soon. However, despite her stating that she is going to step down, Giffords has also said that she does want to return to public service one day.
Here is her recent video:
After watching the video, I am still truly amazed at how well Giffords has improved...and I am again glad that she has not lost her brilliant smile. I hope she will return to Congress one day, but for now, it seems that the best course of action for her is to rest and recover.
Monday, 9 January 2012
Gabrielle Giffords
Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the Tuscon shooting in Arizona, where an assassination attempt was made on congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (Rep. D-AZ) at a public event while she met with her constituents. Six other people were killed in the shooting, and Giffords herself was seriously wounded when she suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Fortunately, the shooter was prevented by the crowd from killing or injuring any more people.
It was the morning of the 9th of January when I found out, and I clearly remember the moment when I first heard about what had happened. We had just spent a night in a new house, and I was tuning my radio: I caught some news on one of the stations to hear that Giffords had been shot in her head, and was not likely to survive her wounds. I was shocked, as Giffords was not someone whom I had expected to have such a tragedy happen to them. I originally learnt about her in 2009, and ultimately came to have respect for her; she was among the politicians I hoped would be re-elected in 2010, and I was delighted to hear that she had been.
She had overcome a difficult re-election...only to be shot in the head two months later. The prognosis was bleak at first: direct gunshots to the head are rarely survivable (from what I have read the chances of survival are about 5%), and less so when fired at point-blank range as what happened to Giffords. However, she was incredibly lucky with where the bullet hit her: from what I understand, if the bullet had been even just slightly away from its angle of entry into her head, she would have been paralyzed or killed.
Even though Giffords survived the shot and was treated for it in time, she did receive brain damage: her vision, speech, movement, and reading/writing abilities have all been seriously affected; still, her recovery has been astounding, and has exceeded expectations. Her comprehension is still intact, and she has not lost her personality nor the bright, unique smile that she is known for. In some videos I watched about her recovery during the time of her first interview since the shooting, it was said that she was aware of and could understand everything going on around her; she also knew what she wanted to say to people, but had trouble saying it. I did find it upsetting to see the juxtaposition of her giving speeches to crowds with her having trouble speaking, but at the same time it was encouraging to see her improving from her injury.
My respect for Giffords has increased since the shooting, and her strength and courage throughout the whole ordeal have both been extraordinary. However, I have also been impressed with her husband, Mark Kelly, for his support of her through it all and being by her side most of the time. I thought it was remarkable that he was willing to forgo commanding one of the final space shuttle missions to stay with her until she convinced him to complete the mission.
Now a year on, it still is not known what Giffords will decide on when it comes to her political career. I would love for her to remain in Congress, but I understand that it would probably put additional stress on her if she did. Regardless of what she ultimately chooses to do, I am glad that her recovery has been phenomenal and that she is still steadily improving: I wish her and her family the best.
It was the morning of the 9th of January when I found out, and I clearly remember the moment when I first heard about what had happened. We had just spent a night in a new house, and I was tuning my radio: I caught some news on one of the stations to hear that Giffords had been shot in her head, and was not likely to survive her wounds. I was shocked, as Giffords was not someone whom I had expected to have such a tragedy happen to them. I originally learnt about her in 2009, and ultimately came to have respect for her; she was among the politicians I hoped would be re-elected in 2010, and I was delighted to hear that she had been.
She had overcome a difficult re-election...only to be shot in the head two months later. The prognosis was bleak at first: direct gunshots to the head are rarely survivable (from what I have read the chances of survival are about 5%), and less so when fired at point-blank range as what happened to Giffords. However, she was incredibly lucky with where the bullet hit her: from what I understand, if the bullet had been even just slightly away from its angle of entry into her head, she would have been paralyzed or killed.
Even though Giffords survived the shot and was treated for it in time, she did receive brain damage: her vision, speech, movement, and reading/writing abilities have all been seriously affected; still, her recovery has been astounding, and has exceeded expectations. Her comprehension is still intact, and she has not lost her personality nor the bright, unique smile that she is known for. In some videos I watched about her recovery during the time of her first interview since the shooting, it was said that she was aware of and could understand everything going on around her; she also knew what she wanted to say to people, but had trouble saying it. I did find it upsetting to see the juxtaposition of her giving speeches to crowds with her having trouble speaking, but at the same time it was encouraging to see her improving from her injury.
My respect for Giffords has increased since the shooting, and her strength and courage throughout the whole ordeal have both been extraordinary. However, I have also been impressed with her husband, Mark Kelly, for his support of her through it all and being by her side most of the time. I thought it was remarkable that he was willing to forgo commanding one of the final space shuttle missions to stay with her until she convinced him to complete the mission.
Now a year on, it still is not known what Giffords will decide on when it comes to her political career. I would love for her to remain in Congress, but I understand that it would probably put additional stress on her if she did. Regardless of what she ultimately chooses to do, I am glad that her recovery has been phenomenal and that she is still steadily improving: I wish her and her family the best.
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