“The first Toy Gun Exchange program kicked off Wednesday at Kennedy Memorial Park in Hempstead,” nydailynews.com reports. “Almost 200 toy guns were turned in for dolls, puzzles, indoor footballs and other gifts. ‘Children are our future,’ said philanthropist Jean Shafiroff [above], who funded the program with the Hempstead Board of Education. ‘If we can teach them violent toys and violent guns aren’t for everyone, then we will make a huge difference in our future.'” If that strikes as pretty mild – “aren’t for everyone” also means “are for some” – don’t worry. The Daily News‘ top team of anti-gun agitprop providers are on the case . . .
In October a 12-year-old girl was shot in the head and killed when a stray bullet pierced the wall of her Hempstead home.
Just to be clear…
Although that sentence comes hot on the [stylish] heels of Ms. Shafiroiff’s quote, the phrase “her Hempstead home” refers to the homicide vicgtim’s home. Not Jean Shafiroff’s home. Judging from her wikipedia.org entry – “Shafiroff has been named by Gotham Magazine as one of the “100 Most Powerful New Yorkers,” and was featured in Hamptons Magazine’s “Best Dressed List” in 2012″ – I don’t think Ms. Shafiroff’s lives in the kind of neighborhood prone to random gun fire. Or unprotected by armed security.
“Gun violence is something that happens too much in our city, our village, our state and around the world,” said Lamont Johnson, president of the Hempstead Board of Education.
“We want kids to know guns are not toys,” he said. “We want to stop the gun culture .”
And there you have it: a flat-out admission that gun control advocates are waging a culture war against Americans’ natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. Doing it for and on the children.
That said, I reckon Mr. Johnson is conflating gang banger gun culture for mainstream American gun culture. Odds are Mr. Johnson’s never spent five minutes with a responsible gun owner. I’d bet dollars to donuts he’s never fired a gun. In fact, I bet his mother never let him play with guns. See how that works?