http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress Idaho Common Sense® Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:02:45 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Welcome to - The truth as I see it™. Dr. Bosley writes sociopolitical columns with a conservative view that is well articulated and defended, provoking thought and discussion without telling people what to think. He poses questions, while offering his personal views and reasoning for them, allowing readers to better understand his opinions as they develop their own. His advice to himself - "Writing the truth as I see it; trying not to offend those who will disagree." Craig L. Bosley, MD no Craig L. Bosley, MD webmaster@craigbosley.com webmaster@craigbosley.com (Craig L. Bosley, MD) 2010 Craig Bosley The truth as I see it™ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/category/gun-control/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2010/01/guns-the-constitution-and-switzerland/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2010/01/guns-the-constitution-and-switzerland/#comments Sat, 02 Jan 2010 23:37:36 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=126 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2010/01/guns-the-constitution-and-switzerland/feed/ 0 government,Gun politics,Law,second amendment,Second Amendment to the United States Constitution,Supreme Court,United States,United States Constitution,United States Supreme Court A fact regularly ignored in much of the gun debate – the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.  In 2008, the Supreme Court revisited the constitutional meaning of the right of the individual to “keep and bear arms, A fact regularly ignored in much of the gun debate – the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.  In 2008, the Supreme Court revisited the constitutional meaning of the right of the individual to “keep and bear arms,” and unequivocally affirmed our constitutional right of individual gun ownership. That should end the debate because a constitutional right is not the same as a governmental privilege; neither the legislature nor the Supreme Court can change a constitutional right.  Yet, gun control advocates continue discounting this reality with ongoing legislative assaults on our rights. The diatribe continues with tired and illegal arguments.  One popular “explanation” for limiting gun ownership is that the Founding Fathers intended for citizens to have muskets; therefore, anything beyond a hunting gun is not protected by the Constitution. False.  First, the Constitution makes no mention of limiting gun ownership in any way, to any type of weapon.  Second, the muskets owned by citizens of the time were the very same muskets carried by the military.  In other words, the Founding Fathers intended the citizens’ weapons to be the same as the military’s, precisely because the Second Amendment was to arm us to protect ourselves from the government, should that be needed. Another argument is that the Constitution was intended to be a living document, evolving with the times and needs, reinterpreted by the Supreme Court. False again.  There is no language in the Constitution suggesting the government or its agent, the Supreme Court, can reinterpret or change the Constitution.  The Founding Fathers clearly stated the only way to change the Constitution is via Article V, an amendment.  The Constitution is amendable, but it is not re-interpretable. Another popular false argument is that gun control reduces crime.  Even if it were true (which it is not), the government simply does not have the legal authority to take our guns. I have a proposal.  Let’s copy the Swiss.  The Swiss build shooting ranges like we build golf courses.  Those who advocate taking our guns away would cringe at the Swiss, labeling them gun nuts.  Guns are everywhere in Switzerland. Why?  Because every able-bodied male is required, at the age of 20, to attend the Swiss equivalent of military boot camp and remain in the country’s national guard until the age of 30.  During those years they keep in their home their military rifle, similar to our military M-4. And when they complete their military obligation, they have the option to keep their weapon, once the fully automatic feature is removed, making it similar to our civilian AR-15. While every able-bodied Swiss male serves in the military, less than 1 percent of United States males ages 18 to 24 serve in our nation’s armed forces, according to the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, a “project dedicated to collecting and distributing United States census data.” Moreover, the Swiss love of guns goes well beyond the military, with the government building gun ranges, sponsoring shooting competitions and holding gun training clinics for all citizens.  Only two nations have more guns per-capita than Switzerland and it has more people trained to use guns per-capita than any place in the world. And guess what?  It is one of the safest places in the world, although one could argue this does not prove a link between gun ownership and less crime because other factors could be involved.  But Switzerland is an excellent example that gun ownership does not mandate increased crime as we are continually threatened it will. And there might be an added benefit.  What if we could get Congress as excited about spending money building shooting ranges and providing the citizens with weapons as they are about spending money on water taxis and bridges to nowhere. Remember, Congress has repeatedly proven its desire to spend huge sums of money, with little concern on how the money is spent. Craig L. Bosley, MD no 4:13 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/09/teaching-children-to-murder/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/09/teaching-children-to-murder/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 04:35:16 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=111 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/09/teaching-children-to-murder/feed/ 0 Guns,Handgun,High school,Human,Littleton Colorado,Murder,Recreation,Semi-automatic firearm,Television,Video game,Video game controversy,Violence and Abuse Littleton, Colorado, 1999; Santee, California, 2001; Cold Springs, Minnesota, 2003; Jacksboro, Tennessee, 2005; Cleveland, Ohio, 2007.  These are just a few of the 60 school shootings occurring since Columbine in 1999, double previous decades. Littleton, Colorado, 1999; Santee, California, 2001; Cold Springs, Minnesota, 2003; Jacksboro, Tennessee, 2005; Cleveland, Ohio, 2007.  These are just a few of the 60 school shootings occurring since Columbine in 1999, double previous decades. The pro... Craig L. Bosley, MD no http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/09/our-children-violence-and-murder/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/09/our-children-violence-and-murder/#comments Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:00:00 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=110 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/09/our-children-violence-and-murder/feed/ 0 Adolescence,Advertising,Anti-Gun Rights,Canada,Child,Gun Control,Gun politics,Gun violence,Murder,Roy Rogers,South Africa,United States What is happening to our children? Children with guns murdering children. Does this support the need for gun control, as advanced by the media and the politically correct, both with a fanciful capacity to not allow facts to interfere   with their opini... What is happening to our children? Children with guns murdering children. Does this support the need for gun control, as advanced by the media and the politically correct, both with a fanciful capacity to not allow facts to interfere   with their opinions? But if the data shows guns are not the cause of violence, and gun control does not work, why then have we witnessed rises in all types of school violence during the last several decades, including bullying, non-gun violence and gun violence. Maybe school violence has always been with us, just more publicized now than before. But the types of school violence we now see did not start until the late 1960s.   What happened that led to the rise in school violence? In 1972, the surgeon general offered a look at a possible cause, issuing a report on "The Impact of Television Violence." This was followed by a confirmatory article in the 1975 Journal of the American Medical Association. Think about it. We do not allow cigarette advertising on television because of the risk to children, but we freely advertise murder. By age 12, the average child has witnessed over 8,000 murders and over 100,000 acts of violence on television. Does this desensitize children to violence? Can there be a link? Ask Nike, Toyota, Budweiser and others if television influences behavior. An interesting analysis published in a 1992 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association offered a causal relationship between television and escalating child violence. The authors first pointed out   that younger children cannot distinguish fact from fantasy, "accepting the images on television as how the world really is." Moreover, as children get older, even though they learn to distinguish fact from fantasy, the "deepest impressions have already occurred." The authors then analyzed   television access and homicide rates in three countries--the United States that got television about 1945, Canada that got television about 1950, and South Africa that did not get television until 1975. The findings? Comparing the United States to South Africa, the homicide rate in the United States doubled 10 to 15 years after introducing television, while the homicide rate remained stable in South Africa. Comparing Canada to South Africa yielded the same results.   Why 10 to 15 years? If homicide was mostly an adult crime and if television exerted its most negative influence on young children who could not distinguish fact from fantasy, it would take 10 to 15 years for those children to become young adults and commit murder. Further, if the authors were correct, children would also behave differently throughout their growth years, throughout the 10 to 15 years after their introduction to television. And they did. Younger children who had been exposed to television had higher rates of bullying, followed by escalating non-gun violence in adolescence, culminating in rising homicide rates as they became young adults. Television changed lessons in life. Roy Rogers and Trigger quickly gave way to violent cartoons along with Marshal Dillon and boot hill.   Before television, if we hurt one of our friends while playing, our parents taught us it was wrong to hurt other people. But television brought different lessons to young children who blurred fantasy and reality; lessons on killing and murdering without anyone teaching them that hurting people was wrong. We parents did not think that was needed because we knew television was make-believe. Ignoring data to the contrary, we continue the myth of blaming guns. Why? Maybe we do not like looking back, accepting responsibility for allowing our children near unlimited access to television violence. Maybe we feel guilty we have not had the courage to challenge the media greed that promotes violence for profit, while hiding behind the claim of defending free speech.   Although the research nicely explains rises in most types of school violence, Craig L. Bosley, MD no 4:26 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/05/who-are-the-real-terrorists/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/05/who-are-the-real-terrorists/#comments Mon, 18 May 2009 07:59:08 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=92 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/05/who-are-the-real-terrorists/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/02/the-herd-immunity-of-gun-ownership/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/02/the-herd-immunity-of-gun-ownership/#comments Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:57:30 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=9 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/02/the-herd-immunity-of-gun-ownership/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/02/make-my-day-gun-laws/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/02/make-my-day-gun-laws/#comments Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:00:03 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=10 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2009/02/make-my-day-gun-laws/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/10/concealed-carry-permits-right-or-privilege/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/10/concealed-carry-permits-right-or-privilege/#comments Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:30:45 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=81 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/10/concealed-carry-permits-right-or-privilege/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/07/the-right-of-the-people-to-keep-and-bear-arms/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/07/the-right-of-the-people-to-keep-and-bear-arms/#comments Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:15:15 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=69 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/07/the-right-of-the-people-to-keep-and-bear-arms/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/04/virginia-tech-one-year-later/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/04/virginia-tech-one-year-later/#comments Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:37:59 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=56 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2008/04/virginia-tech-one-year-later/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2007/12/i-intend-to-be-among-the-outlaws/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2007/12/i-intend-to-be-among-the-outlaws/#comments Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:58:31 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=39 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2007/12/i-intend-to-be-among-the-outlaws/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2007/12/a-free-people-ought-to-be-armed/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2007/12/a-free-people-ought-to-be-armed/#comments Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:57:35 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=38 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2007/12/a-free-people-ought-to-be-armed/feed/ 0 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2007/08/how-objective-is-media-reporting-on-gun-control/ http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2007/08/how-objective-is-media-reporting-on-gun-control/#comments Mon, 27 Aug 2007 09:17:22 +0000 Craig Bosley http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/?p=24 http://www.craigbosley.com/wordpress/2007/08/how-objective-is-media-reporting-on-gun-control/feed/ 0