Gun Shops Secure
Stephanie Kraft is telling us what many of us already knew: theft and burglary are out of control (“Guns in the Wrong Hands,” January 10, 2013). Oddly enough, the same people who are crying out for more gun control have also supported lenient sentencing. Had it been a woman raped, anyone criticizing her actions would be accused of blaming the victim. But if a store or house is robbed, some are blaming the victim of the burglary.
I have not seen a gun shop yet that does not have security, much more than other stores. Guns are expensive; it is very unlikely that anyone would want to lose inventory.
So what happens when someone steals a gun? Not much. Read the papers. There are people convicted multiple times of burglary. A story was recently printed of a person who had a criminal record of about 20 pages. Repeat offenders should be in jail. But even murderers get released. This clearly is the fault of the friendly, smiling legislator who lives in your district.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives should investigate itself. It lost thousands of guns to Mexican drug cartels. But every solution politicians give us is to harass sportsmen and other honest citizens who get their gun permits and have done nothing wrong.
How many stolen guns are used in mass shootings? Not many, if any at all. The biggest common factor is still mental illness, and families who hide the mental illness of a family member.
The Tragedy of Trafficking in Children
I would like to call attention to the fact that January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Along with this fact, there are many others. To mention a few: At least 100,000 American children are being exploited through pornography or prostitution every year. The ages of trafficked children vary. The average age a child is first exploited through prostitution is 13 years old, though even infants have been identified in pornography.
Traffickers and pimps use physical, emotional and psychological abuse to coerce young women and girls into a life of exploitation. Traffickers are master manipulators and employ tactics to create a trauma bond between the victim and trafficker. Traffickers often use the threat of violence against victims or their loved ones to secure their submission. Many pimps often use a “lover-boy” technique to recruit girls from middle and high schools. A pimp will present himself as a boyfriend and woo the girl with gifts, promises of fulfilled dreams, protection, adventure or whatever she perceives she is lacking in her life. After securing her love and loyalty, he will force her into prostitution.
Age is the primary factor in vulnerability. Pre-teen or adolescent girls are more susceptible to the calculated advances, deception and manipulation tactics used by traffickers/pimps. No youth is exempt from falling prey to these tactics. Traffickers target locations youth frequent such as schools, malls, parks, bus stops, shelters and group homes.
Runaway, homeless or previously sexually abused youth also may have an increased risk of becoming vulnerable to traffickers. One out of every five pornographic images is of a child and 55 percent of child pornography comes from the U.S. The sale of child pornography in the U.S. has become more than a $3 billion annual industry. In a study of 932 sex addicts, 90 percent of the men and 77 percent of the women indicated that looking at pornography played a significant role in their addiction. Viewing pornography essentially rewires the brain and drastically influences how dopamine and other chemicals are received and used in the brain. Please visit www.sharedhope.org to learn more about this.
Jennifer Warner
via email
