Due to certain deer-related events, I regret to inform you that I haven't watched much football this week, aside from a fumble touchdown from the Redskins with a major win for them over the Giants. However, there is one thing that has been sparked that relates to football as well. As many of you have probably heard, especially those that are in AP Lang as well, have heard about the Jovan Belcher incident with the now former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker. There are several sides to this story, but not all the right ones are being told. Things are being left out and it's being turned into something that should be a complete non-issue. Because of this, I'd like to outline what's really happening with this story.
The first part of this that I'd like to address is one of the parts they continue to leave out in this "tragedy." Yes, it is a tragedy that a family lost a son. Yes, it is a tragedy that a family lost a daughter. Yes it is a tragedy that a child lost their mother and father. But do you want to know the real tragedy? That child will probably grow up not knowing that it was their own father that killed her mother, not to mention himself. Now, most people only focus on the fact that he committed suicide after telling his coaches he loved them, a real Hallmark moment for sure. But most people don't focus on the fact that he was, indeed, a murderer. That may be a bit of a harsh statement, but it is, in fact, the truth.
The second point is based out of something much more disturbing. Jason Whitlock, a sports writer for FOX News, wrote on the events of the incident, but amongst what seems like an innocent enough article used as an elegy to his death, it is anything but. About halfway through, he starts spouting out what can only be described as nonsensible rantings about how guns kill people and how they'd both be alive today had he not had one in his possession. First of all, the guy was two hundred and thirty pounds versus a girl that was probably a little more than half that weight. Anyone else notice the disparity of force there? If he was that intent on killing her, he could've snapped her in half like a twig. Secondly, the flaw with his stance on guns doesn't match up to any statistics in the U.S. or in any other nation. All states with the highest gun restrictions also have the most gun crime. You may ask, "Why?" Well, it's because the law-abiding citizens can't use their own guns for self defense whereas the criminals who don't care about the law are using their guns for crime. Do you know what happened in England? They banned guns and now gun crime has doubled within a matter of years. As if to add more injury to insult, murder with knives went up almost immediately after the gun ban, so they banned kitchen knives over a certain length.
The third and final point I'd like to make is that the incident has brought up an issue that shouldn't even require a debate. The second amendment ensures our right to own a firearm and use it in the case of an emergency. The fictional "gun culture" that Whitlock references in his article is anything but the true stance on guns of the general public. Fact of the matter is, you are more likely to survive or stop a crime if you are a private citizen with a firearm in your possession, while most of the gun violence that occurs is between gangs who really don't care for the law anyway. But a man like Whitlock would know all about that with convoluted conspiracies about the NRA being the next KKK.
With all the attention that he's been getting, I will say that the whole ordeal is a tragedy. But perhaps the bigger tragedy is the inattention to detail in almost every way in the mainstream media.
WC: 685
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