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Responses to Jemmali

Today’s ODE has a letter in response to Mohamed Jemmali’s guest opinion that ran yesterday. Unfortunately, the Emerald did not deign to also print OC Publisher Guy Simmons’ letter, so I’ll just throw it up here:

Dear Editor,
Faculty member Mohamed Jemmali should not believe everything he sees on television. The NRA did not “organize a rally” in the same town that had just experienced a school shooting. The Columbine massacre occurred ten days before the NRA’s annual meeting. The meeting was planned years in advance and was expected to draw 22,000 people. However, in respect to the victims of the tragedy, the NRA canceled all of its planned meetings except the annual member’s meeting, which was required by federal law for non-profit organizations. This is not exactly an uncaring approach to freedom of speech.

In the future, Professor Jemmali should check his sources for accuracy and bias. It is embarrassing for university faculty to repeat lies about an organization that protects our civil liberties.

Guy Simmons, UO Biology Student

  1. Timothy says:

    Tim, forget the hungry guy. Assume it

  2. Kai Davis says:

    “I also have 2 kids. I do care about their safety more than anything.
    Finally, I

  3. Dear OC,
    I think your publication is hilarious. (I really do)
    I’ll never ask you to consider me for a position of course. I realize it’s probably a waste of your time.
    I also realize that we don’t have much in common, but so what. I just wanna remind you that the reason why I’m blogging on your site is b/c you started a blog about my article, not to try to convince you to change your opinions.
    The last 3 days of blogging has been a good experience for me. I hope it’s reciprocal.
    Peace in the Middle East!
    Mo-Dawg

  4. Kai, your evaluation of my understanding of the 2nd Amendment is correct. It’s ok if we disagree, but I’m glad you understand me respectfully.
    But your interpretation of my ‘free” lifestyle went a little too far. You can break into my house/car whether it’s locked or not. I also have 2 kids. I do care about their safety more than anything.
    Finally, I’ll never give someone a good reason to kill me. I’m also not afraid of death.

  5. Josh, as peaceful as I try to be, I think you’re the Douchebag (w/a capital D). You can’t understand what I’m talking about b/c you were born, raised, and still live in a community where people have to lock their door, pay for a security system, keep a loaded gun under the pillow, and live w/ferocious dogs inside… to feel a little safer. I’ve been living in America for 14 yrs. Never locked my doors. If someone wants to steel your car, they’ll do it whether you lock the door or not. Sorry to disappoint you if I won’t kill someone for stealing a car, even if it’s worth $100K. I also traveled in 3 continents, 7 countries, and a dozen US states. I have a good sense of different lifestyles and philosophies.
    As Sakaki said, shit happens. So you can spend your life as a Douche trying to avoid shit from happening in your backyard, or as a Libertarian (fan of liberty and freedom), the only way to free yourself from FEAR is though your mind and behavior, not guns and imprisoning yourself (locks)…

  6. Kai Davis says:

    “not valid in MY [emphasis added] interpretation of the 2nd Amendment”

    And…you lost me. It doesn’t make sense to be throwing around examples to validate a point of view when that POV is based on a singular (and quite far from reality) interpretation of the 2nd amendment.

    I can throw whatever illogical interpretation of this amendment out there for discussion, but it doesn’t matter because when we are discussing the 2nd amendment we need to discuss the current interpretation or look at past versions and interpretations to judge the founder’s intent and their intent does not line up with what you’re claiming.

    Your point (and forgive me, I haven’t read back more than 2 posts) seems to be that its wrong for us to carry guns casually because the language of the constitution is for people to carry guns against a ‘hostile’ government that is attempting to deprive us of life and liberty. That hasn’t happened, so its odd that people are carrying guns and this seems to make you afraid.

    But this seems like a very odd interpretation of the second amendment. CJ and Vincent are right that the 2nd amendment has grown *weaker* and not stronger over history. The rights to carry a gun have slowly been infringed upon and in the past the right to carry a gun has in fact let Americans protect themselves from hostile takeover. No, not in the apocalyptic situation you seem to envision, but (as was said above) in smaller battles that could have resulted in a much different America. The power of a gun isn’t to win a war. The power of a gun is to protect the individual.

    __

    “Life is too valuable to end it w/a trigger in 1 second.”

    “I certainly won

  7. Josh M. says:

    Tim, how dare you, in your perpetual fear, posit the idea of shooting an armed person in your house? Thank God/Allah/FSM that the incomparable Mo-Dawg, in his infinite peace and love, has shown us the way. It’s not enough to not be materialistic. You should leave your car and your house unlocked too. After all, that precious 15-year-old prankster probably needs it much more than you do.

    Mr. Jemmali, from all that I have read on here, you are a complete tool. I’m sure this will be answered with some brilliant piece of writing about how sad you are for me, and how I can’t accept that others have different opinions. It has nothing to do with that. As a libertarian, I’m used to all of my views being hated by either the left or the right, and occasionally both. It’s your pompous, self-congratulatory manner. I don’t know you, but by all evidence I have seen to this point, you are a complete and utter douchebag. I would suggest that you stop commenting and embarrassing yourself, but the unintentional comedy factor is such that I must insist you stay.

  8. CJ, all the ex you mention are not valid in my interpretation of the 2nd Amendment “a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” I’m talking about when a country becomes a police state where bad dictators like Saddam send you to prison or shoot you for criticizing them. In other words, revolutions where civilians join forces to overthrow a brutal gov’t. No American President ever came close to treating its people like Saddam. That’s why you have the right to bear arms. That’s when you need them.

    Vincent, here’s the avg nbr of people killed by guns each yr in similar countries:
    Germany: 381, France: 255, Canada: 165, UK: 68, Australia: 65, Japan: 39… USA: 11,127!!! As for school shootings, there are no stats but in the US.

    Nick, guns don’t kill people. Normal people w/guns don’t kill other people. Insane people w/guns do, and there’s tons of them everywhere in this country. There are many reasons much bigger than safety: money, drugs, poverty, racism…

    Tim, forget the hungry guy. Assume it’s a stupid 15 yr old prankster… Judging by your comments, I picture you as a very individualistic person, living in perpetual fear. I don’t lock my car or my house, and I don’t care about losing materialistic belongings. I certainly won’t kill someone unless I’m sure they intend to kill me. Life is too valuable to end it w/a trigger in 1 second.

  9. Timothy says:

    CJ – Oh here in the Lone Star State I can shoot you if you’re breaking into someone else’s house. Or robbing a liquor store. Or if you’re in my lawn and won’t leave. Texas actually has a pretty broad definition of defense and allows defense of third-party life/property.

    Now, if you’re unarmed and you break into my house, I probably won’t just shoot you. I’ll probably tell you to get the fuck out of my house and get a job you worthless, goddamned thief. If you refuse, and my dogs don’t rip you apart first, then I will shoot you. I think that’s fair. If you break into my house armed, well, I’ll fucking shoot you without a second thought – because there is no good reason you’re in my house, armed, without my permission.

  10. CJ Ciaramella says:

    Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever ran into someone so completely and utterly misinformed about the second amendment. I don’t mean wrong in opinion; I mean wrong in actual fact.

    First, regarding your intended hyperbolic statement about carrying guns to school, church and whatnot: I hate to break it to you, man, but hundreds of thousands of people do just that every day. There are thousands of concealed carry license holders in Lane County alone. Oregon state law explicitly allows concealed carry in public buildings. That includes campuses. The UO’s policy banning handguns is illegal.

    Second, with regards to civil revolution: Are you completely ignorant of American history? Check out: the American Revolution, Shay’s Rebellion, the Whiskey Rebellion, John Brown and Harper’s Ferry, several other slave revolts and, uh, the Civil War (that was a big one). Also worth noting are the Black Panthers, the Pink Pistols and other minority groups who have armed themselves for protection. Guns act as a deterrent against majority force.

    The Second Amendment HAS NOT become broader over time. In fact, the original wording gives citizens a pretty much absolute right to bear arms. If anything, gun rights have been significantly narrowed over the years.

    Finally, you wrote: “if I was dying from hunger and I break into someone

  11. Sakaki, I never said I was supporting Hamas. I always said I’m on children’s side, whether they’re Palestinian or Israeli. They’re too young and innocent to be involved in stupid wars waged by stupid adults.

    Nick, since the 2nd Amendment became in the Constitution, there has never been a civil revolution against the gov’t. That’s b/c the US gov’t never acted like the Saddam regime, and probably never will during our life-time. That’s why the 2nd Amendment was created (as stated in the Constitution). But today, that Amendment became much broader. People now can use guns for self-defense against other civilians. So what’s self-defense? An ex could be: if I was dying from hunger and I break into someone’s house to steal some food, that person can kill me in the name of self-defense (or fear?), even if I said and did nothing to threaten their life. In other countries, every household has to make sure their immediate neighbors are not hungry. That’s also a reality of the world, only more beautiful and peaceful.

    Vincent, I’ll get back to you on the nbrs. I gotta go teach…

  12. Vincent says:

    Mohammed:

    I have a simple question for you: Do you believe that banning guns on campus actually makes people any safer?

    Before you answer, think about the point that Mr. Antovich is making. If someone is insane enough to seriously consider murdering his peers, as was the Virginia Tech shooter, do you honestly believe that a ban on firearms serves as a deterrent?

    The case of Virginia Tech seems to indicate that isn’t the case. I’d be willing to bet, in fact, that if you take a look at the locations of mass-shootings in the United States in the last 20 years or so, most of them will have taken place in a so-called “gun-free zone” at a school, university, or shopping mall.

    “Gun-free zones” seem to have the somewhat paradoxical effect of making people less safe, since law abiding citizens will not be carrying the means to defend themselves in those areas, while criminals bent on mass-murder are quite obviously not concerned with whether or not regulations permit them to carry firearms there or not.

    This leaves people effectively defenseless and forces them to rely on law enforcement agencies to save their lives. Alas, because of the nature of such killings, law enforcement has the unfortunate tendency to arrive after there’s already a pile of bodies on the floor.

    Guy probably knows more about the numbers on this than I do, but it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that people who have concealed carry permits are in fact more responsible gun owners than the general population and have lower rates of gun-related crime and accidents associated with them.

    As for your assertion that the US has “more gun violence than the entire world combined”, I’d be interested in seeing your source for that. As far as I can tell from this, what you’re saying simply is not the case:

    Crime rates in the U.S. are similar to those of other developed countries. Nonetheless, many developing countries have significantly higher rates of homicide and in some cases, firearm usage in homicides, including Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Guatemala, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Estonia, and Russia.

    The numbers aren’t negligible, of course, but they hardly seem to add up to the figures you’re talking about. Can you give a citation?

    I really think you’re just succumbing to an irrational fear of firearms.

  13. Antovich says:

    Glad to hear I had such an impact on Mr. Jemmali. Guns don’t kill people, Mr. Jemmali, people kill people. And yes, I do believe I have the right to exercise the Second Amendment on campus, just like I exercise the first

  14. Sakaki says:

    “Schools are sanctuaries for knowledge, not wars;”

    This is the statement that I’ve been waiting for. This is what I’ve waited to draw out of you.

    I want you to tell that to the members of Hamas, Hammy. When they fire rockets from school buildings, and hide behind children, I want you to tell them that it’s not right. That schools should be sanctuaries for knowledge, not wars. You know what they’ll say? Nothing. They’ll put an M43 through your chest, then laugh at you.

    Your ideas are questionable yet noble, but they do not mesh with the reality of our world. Shit happens, and you can do nothing about it.

  15. Guns make me feel threatened, not people. Guns are man-made; they’re not part of the natural world.
    If I disagree w/someone, I like to 1st have a diplomatic debate. If things escalate, then the debate might turn into a verbal fight. If things escalate even further, it might turn into a physical fight (I won’t start it though). But that’s as far as things should go. You might get bloody, but both sides walk away alive, and life continues, and nobody acts like a God (taking away other lives).
    Schools are sanctuaries for knowledge, not wars; churches for prayers; bars for beer… That’s the natural world. FEAR should not be part of the mix. There are tons of jumpy wackos out there.
    The 2nd Amendment is not that bad. I like the idea that people can protect themselves against the gov’t when needed (although it never happened so far). But sometimes certain laws don’t apply the same way to different countries. Canada has as much gun-freedom as the US (and more guns/capita), but the US has more gun-crimes than the entire world combined, and school shootings are unheard of abroad.
    Why? One word: FEAR!

  16. Sakaki says:

    Mr. Antovich is not crazy. He is, however, concerned about people like the gunner at Virginia Tech.

    We would encourage faculty to also carry while on campus, if they are in a position where their life may be threatened by either students or others.

    Hammy, there is no real answer for the remedy of school shootings. They happen. And you have to accept it. Life happens, shit happens, and there’s nothing you can or will do about it.

    It is the natural order of the world.

  17. Gsim,
    1 child?!!! How about hundreds in school shootings and thousands overall, all in the US of course, and since WW2.
    That crazy Nick Antovich wanted to bring his gun to school. May be faculty should do the same. May be we should carry them in church and to sports games too. Is here such a thing as abusing the 2nd Amendment?

  18. I wanna apologize if I portrayed a sense of superiority. I wanna apologize to George for calling him a racist. The truth is, I

  19. Vincent says:

    Mohamed:

    I’m not sure why you insist on adopting an attitude of superiority (“Let me know when you publish an article.” “I’m done teaching you guys free lessons.”) and lashing out at everyone who disagrees with you. You keep insisting that people are calling you names or judging you based on your background, but no one here has done anything of the sort.

    Both here and in other threads people have taken issue with things you’ve written. No one has attacked you personally. Quite to the contrary, it’s you who’s called people racist, assumed that people are indifferent to dead babies, and more or less verbally abused everyone who’s bothered to reply to you.

    Instead of getting up on a high horse and accusing everyone of being “brainwashed”, “living in a bubble”, discriminating against you for being named Mohamed, and relishing the thought of exploded babies… maybe you could… y’know… answer some of their criticisms instead?

    Just a thought.

  20. Gsim says:

    Oh yes! Think of the children! Those poor innocents. We should throw away all of the liberties enumerated in the US Constitution.

    If it saves just one child’s life it’ll be worth it right?

    /it is just a piece of paper after all.

  21. Gsim says:

    Mohamed your most recent example is from the same inaccurate source.

    Allow me to be as clear as possible: Bowling for Columbine should not be used as a primary source. Mr. Moore is a liar. It is embarrassing for UO faculty to perpetuate lies that have been nationally exposed.

    It is true, the NRA did have a rally in Flint, Michigan after the little girl was murdered. Except it was a rally for the 2000 election campaign and said rally occurred 8 months after the girl’s death.

    It is pretty clear that you hold the second amendment in as high regard as you do the first.

  22. Sounds like a bunch of whiners who blame everything on others and have an excuse for everything.
    You think this is about NRA vs. hippies or Arabs & Muslims vs. Jews & Americans? I’m just an advocate for children, whether it’s in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or school shootings. You can mumble all you want. In the end, over 300 children died in the last 2 wks in Gaza, and school shootings continue to rise every yr in the US. You really think you can make me feel bad for taking children’s side? May be you’ll understand once you have children.

  23. Jan says:

    Actually, yeah, that was kind of another fake story, too. The NRA event in Flint was a get-out-the-vote rally, held eight months after the Michigan shooting.

  24. CJ Ciaramella says:

    No thank you, I have enough ex’s. They all live in Texas.

    What did we call you?!

  25. Sakaki says:

    Face it, Hammy…you got caught with your pants down.

    (Making a quarterly appearance).

  26. Want another ex? The NRA showed up again in Flint, Michigan, after a 6 yr old boy killed a 6 yr old girl (Kayla Rolland) w/a gun. Is that another fake TV story too?
    You guys can call me whatever you want. I don’t care. I just hope you get out of your little bubble every once in a while, before a shooting happens in your own neighborhood, and you learn a lesson the hard way.
    guns = violence + death + pain
    I don’t oppose hunting weapons though.

    Regarding today’s article on the Emerald, I hope you take the time to read my response online:
    http://www.dailyemerald.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticleComments&ustory_id=87f160af-1b43-427a-8de1-c79cf85b0474#2457f732-af2e-4c20-8c24-7ef637d0a24e

  27. Kai Davis says:

    T, if they don’t cut words they won’t have enough room for ADS!

    But seriously, it sucks that they’re starting to shrink on content.

  28. Vincent says:

    It’s not just you.

  29. T says:

    Nice letter.

    On the topic of the ODE: is it just me, or are they printing less and less news? And I don’t mean newsworthy content, per se, I mean any sort of content that would normally fill a newspaper. Namely: words.

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