Opinion: “The Common Good of Gun Control and Covid Control”
Gun control measures and mask-wearing are both topics that are unnecessarily politicized, weaponized by those they intended to protect. Experts agree that mass shooters often purchase their guns at the last minute shortly before their attack. The gunman in the Atlanta-area spa shootings purchased a 9mm semi-automatic pistol mere hours before he used it to kill eight people on March 16. A mandatory waiting period or licensing requirement could have possibly prevented the needless death — extra steps that are a small price to pay for gun owners when weighed against the cost to human life.
But while gun control measures are debated endlessly in Congress, there is an immediate action we can all take to save lives. Wear a mask around those outside your household. I know by this late stage in the pandemic, the message feels tired. Yet according to a study by USC, half of U.S. adults still don’t wear masks when in close contact with non-household members, so clearly the message isn’t getting through.
One thing that we can all agree on, is that no one particularly enjoys wearing a mask. In the same way, some don’t enjoy a wearing bike helmet or a seatbelt. Yet we have all agreed as a society that these interventions are a minor inconvenience and worth the life-saving benefits.
Why is it that we can’t apply the same logical rationale to wearing face masks that dramatically reduce the transmission of a rapidly mutating, deathly virus? How has a piece of cloth turned into such a polarizing issue?
The tired arguments of infringements on our freedom and liberty simply don’t hold up. How can you claim that we are free if we are all just one unmasked cough from away from contracting a deadly virus? Like many Americans, I am desperate for my freedom. The freedom to reunite with close friends and family members without the fear of infecting them. But with an average of 75,000 new cases of Covid-19 a day in the US, aided by the rapidly spreading variants this will remain out of reach until more Americans commit to wearing masks.
By implementing public health measures like gun control or mask mandates, public officials are not trying to take anything away from Americans. By contrast, they are giving us the gift of life. The countries that have been so successful in eliminating in Covid-19, like Australia and New Zealand have done so by presenting a united front. Politicians from both sides of the aisle buried the hatchet to present a singular public health message focused on preventing transmission of the disease at all costs. It is time for Americans to embody the same values of unity and mask up to prevent needless deaths
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I hadn’t even signed up yet, just came in search, and this comes up, on a site allegedly devoted to PRESERVING our liberty and rights…Yes, it’s an opinion, but it BELONGS in WaPo or HuffPo; it’s the exact opposite of preserving anything!
1st issue: MORE guns in well trained hands wielded by stable minded people is the answer here, not stripping us of our last protection against the tyrants in DC, and their minion mobs (antifa, blm, etc). Rather, better mental health assessment, and care, and FEWER psychotropic drugs, especially in young male adolescents to 25 yrs of age!
As for masks, ALL they have amctually been proven to do is increase facial skin, and oral mucosal, or dental health problems in consistent wearers. Only a properly SEALED to the skin N-95 mask will stop a virus going any direction. The rest are just an health hazard to wearers. Fresh air (not AC), sunshine (UV light), and good hand washing with a NON-antimicrobial soap and water, as well as supporting your own natural immune system are the best defenses against nearly all pathogens! The masks are about CONTROL and COMPLIANCE, not health, same as the alleged “vaccines”.
Feel free to wear masks or take the shots, as you choos, or to not own a gun for that matter; but STOP trampling on the rights of others in YOUR fear and ignorance, please…
I agree 100%
Go Sandra….You’ve got this correct!! (Masks are also causing bacterial pneumonia in wearers)
Really this has to be the lead story. I just signed up to what I thought was a freedom loving site and this is what I get. Everything this idiot said has no basis in fact. Studies has shown masks don’t work and are even harmful as they restrict oxygen intake. A person bent on mass murder will find a way – gun, knife, bomb or axe. Get this clap trap off the front page or cancel my subscription.
I agree 100%
The opinion writer seems to love stupid analogies, so perhaps he will enjoy pondering this one: Mandating masks does not work, in exactly the same way that posting the following sign does not work: “This is a Gun-Free Zone. Gun crimes and mass shootings are prohibited on these premises”
In fact, as supported by actual data, not hearsay and appeals to “common sense”, covid-19 deaths have no correlation to mask mandates and other draconian restrictions. Florida and Texas are doing much better, thank you, than New York and California.
Not only are masks useless for preventing deaths, but they are demonstrably harmful, as noted by Stanford University researchers and the CDC, in separate studies:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7680614/
https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2020/06/10/ppe-burden/
As for gun crimes, most occur in dense urban areas with the most severe restrictions on gun rights.
Trojan Horse –
Author is Chair and President of Access Health International. Interesting that Access Health International gets grants from the Gates Foundation.
https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants/2019/09/INV003210
I must agree with the comments above. I just finished reading “US CITIZENS HAVE A NEW WEAPON IN THEIR FIGHT FOR FREEDOM.” In the interest of acquiring a new tool in my fight against Big Tech and anyone attempting subversion of our basic freedoms, I decided to visit clout.io. You know, one of things I remind people of is that you have to be so careful in what you read on the internet. 99% is opinionated, unverifiable bullshit. The article, US CITIZENS… appears now to just be another one of those “suck you in” pieces that get you to support someone who has ulterior motives. If dailyclout.io purpose is to help us change the direction of government overreach, then why is this article here supporting more government overreach. I must say even my expectant, yet doubting thomas mind was flabbergasted by this.6t6