I disagree with the Barry Saunders article (http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/10/22/3301374/saunders-we-dont-need-to-see-duke.html). This particular rant isn’t all about his position but some others that I have seen lately.
I don’t see this as a misstep whatsoever. Ive been trying to avoid writing on this topic but the more people comment and glean things that are just not true or appropriate the more I feel I need to vent a bit. Firstly, anyone who piles on about a photo without reading or knowing the back-story or context is ignorant and do we really care what ignorant people think?
It’s the stuff of trolls in my opinion. To bash these young men for emulating the military personnel they were there to see and learn from is just mongering. I am not a gun nut, and I do believe in stricter regulations for weapons, especially automatic weapons. I concur that we have the right to arms to an extent but honestly that has little to nothing to do with how I feel about this article or at very least the pervading sentiment of a faux pas. Basically the headline should read, “nothing to see here”. It’s simply people looking too hard into what these law-abiding college students are doing in the company of their coaches and chaperones. They aren’t on a street corner, or driving 90 mph down the street, tossing weed and hiding guns from cops. They are on a trip where they are learning and representing their university and themselves positively.
I would advise anyone that thinks the pictures with training weapons is in some way an endorsement of violence or violent culture to have their heads examined. These are the same factions that blame violent video games and movies for what goes on in this country, yet other countries have access to the exact same stimuli and typically do not share the issues we have with gun violence. Just take it for what it’s worth a couple of pictures with what amounts to toy guns and let’s stop searching for stories where there are none.
