Thursday, July 30, 2009

Your Best Shot: A Writer’s Account of Domestic Violence and commentary on Gun Control

During my recent cyber-travels, I encountered a Website featuring the Coalition for Gun Control. There I found an Interview with Wendy Cukier posted on July 29 by Elizabeth Mandelman. The article discussed the impact of heightened gun control and registration on the incidence of gun-related violence against women in Canada.
It was the replies to this article that I found to be most disturbing. They were posted by persons in disagreement with Ms. Mandelman and Ms. Cukier. However, rather than expressing respectful debate and dissent, their overall wording showed a blatant disrespect and even, in some instances, personal attack. The replies argued it was not guns that were responsible for the 1989 Montreal Massacre in which 14 women were killed and another 10 were injured. Instead, it was the perpetrator’s Islamic beliefs that were a direct cause of these deaths.
On the subject of Domestic Violence, I have some first-hand knowledge. READ MORE...

Sunday, July 26, 2009

HANDS UP, VARMINTS! Let's talk GUNS...

One of the most interesting groups that I belong to is an on-line collection of Crime-Writers who gather on something called “CrimeSpace”. The group was developed by a man by the name of Daniel Hatadi, whom I consider to be nothing short of brilliant. Here, writers from all over the world get together virtually to discuss everything from ‘plotting’ to ‘character development’ to ‘manuscript marketing’.
Recently a question was raised on the group’s Forum that sparked a great deal of discussion. The “conversation” took a number of turns, and at one point it became a friendly debate on the issue of ‘gun-control’. READ MORE...