Tuesday, December 04, 2012

An open letter to Bob Costas and Jason Whitlock


Gentlemen: I see that you have chosen to use the horrific crime of the murder of Kasandra Perkins to express your belief that guns are the problem, not the men who wield them. I am utterly certain that you believe that you have the moral high ground on this matter. I am equally certain that such a belief is appallingly wrong, not to mention terribly misogynistic. Why do I say this? Because had your desires on gun control been in place, I would not be alive to be writing this now. I have an Ex. I have an Ex who, in the process of becoming my Ex, made credible threats to kill me. Why did I believe these threats were credible? Because among the primary reasons why I left him were that he had anger control issues, that he was a problem drinker well on his way to full blown alcoholism and that the things he was throwing at me were getting ever closer to my head. I decided to leave before finally snapped and actually hit me. He was displeased by this and made such displeasure known. Do you know what kept me safe? Not some piece of paper. Not a judge tut tutting at him and shaking his/her finger and telling him to leave me alone. Not the police, who, after all, would only be able to respond once he had caused me harm. No, what kept me safe was my Glock. What kept me safe was my Glock and the fact that he knew I had both the ability and the will to empty a clip into his chest if he made good on his statements that if I did not come back, I would not see the next week. He never tried to do any of the things he screamed he would because he knew that not only would I defend myself but that I could. My Ex was nearly a foot taller than me and, at the time, had about 150 pounds on me. If he had been able to get close enough to me to harm me, there were very few options I had to protect myself. But with my Glock, well, I would be able to stop him before he got that close. I am alive today because he knew that if he tried to make that otherwise, there was a better than even chance he would be the one lying there in a pool of blood instead of me. You want to take that from me. You want me to be unable to defend myself. You want to leave me vulnerable to those out there who look at a five foot tall fat girl and think “victim”. You want me to be unable to protect myself when there is no one else around to do so. You want to make me dependent on others to provide for my basic safety and security. Let us not beat around the bush, you want to sacrifice my life on the altar of your political beliefs. How dare you? Honestly, who do the two of you think you are to demand that my blood be shed so that you may preen about what wonderful people you are? Why, precisely, are you removing the responsibility for Kasandra Perkins’ murder from Jovan Belcher and placing it on an inanimate object? That is what you are doing, after all. Your position is that absent the gun, Jovan Belcher would not have murdered Kasandra Perkins. What utter rot. It’s not as if, to pick something at random, he could have picked up a knife and slit her throat so violently that she was nearly decapitated. Oh no, that would never ever happen. By focusing on the gun, you are choosing to make Jovan Belcher a mere bystander to his own actions. That is horrific. Jovan Belcher murdered Kasandra Perkins. He chose to pull that trigger. He chose to take her life. How dare you attempt to absolve him in even the slightest manner for that crime. He killed her. Not a gun. He did it. No one else. I will not let you two demand that my blood be shed so that you can sit there and declaim your supposed superior morality to the world. No. You would rather I be dead. That is the logical conclusion of your positions. I will not die for you. No other woman should either. Alive despite you, Alexandria

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you young lady for stating the obvious. I hope you can force more of these fools in the gun control camp of the folly of their notions.

Steve said...

I have a a full appreciation for your comments. I was always against guns myself until my girlfriends X tried to break into our home after a serious death threat. I have since reconsidered my position. I am partnerd up with a firearms instructor and he recently wrote the following. I hope you enjoy.

Being a firearms instructor for over 10 years now I always find it interesting to watch the knee jerk reaction to events like this. Gun violence is scary and those who are unfamiliar often repel and run from what they don't understand and constantly seek evidence to support their beliefs. More to the point, the real issue is the unhealthy domestic violence that was latent in the relationship that should be the real issue. The couple had been fighting intensely for weeks. Sprinkle in some narcotics for a head injury and allow the NFL star to continue to drink and party like everything is normal is just a recipe for disaster. This is certainly a negative for the Gun enthusiast but hopefully rational minds will prevail. To all of you who have firearms...please don;t treat them like a vintage corvette only breaking them out once or twice a year. Go get the proper safety training to keep accidents to a minimum and always keep your muzzles front.