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Handgun Reform protects rights of Children
Amanda Wheeler and Emily
Gelblum
STAFT WRITER AND GUEST
WRITER
"Don't take away my
guns," read the protester's sign
on October 29th outside a hand
gun reform rally at Grimsley high
school. As part of a group of people
voicing their opposition to hand
gun reform outside "The Million
Moms March of Greensboro" (a
rally advocating safer gun laws),
the protester was five years old.
"Boy, 8, playing with gun
shoots brother, 7, in head," read
headlines in Newark, New Jer
sey, November 10th, twelve days
later. Seven-year-old Shakur
Forte thus became the next child
k
Winter Intramurals are here!
Smiles Smith and Erica
Sammartino
STJUT WRITER AND GUEST
WRITER
It's a story I can tell my
grandkids. Our volleyball
team was undefeated in the
tournament —with a 0-0
record.
The tournament was can
celled because only a few
people showed up. My soccer
team was guaranteed to make
the finals. However, there
were only two teams in the
league. And I don't know about
you but I don't prefer playing
two-on-two softball.
These have been some of
my experiences with
intramurals. To say the least,
intramurals haven't been per-
feet at
Guilford. At
tendance has
been a prob
lem.
Chris
Oswald, class
of 'OO, played flag football four
years ago. Sometimes they
had games and other times
they didn't. "We sat around for
half an hour and when we
statistics, that the number of fa
tal gun shootings involving chil
dren (ages 0-14) have decreased
in recent decades, from 495 in
1975 to 250 in 1995.
Rally participants at "The
Million Moms March of Greens
boro" say "Not One More." It is
their mantra.
The October 29th rally, a
"Stand Against Violence: A Rally
for Sensible Gun Laws and Safe
Kids," brought a variety of sup
porters to local Grimsley
high school. Both parents
and children came, includ
ing a slate of noted speak
ers: N.C. State Senator Kay
Hagen, various State Rep
resentatives, and several
local religious leaders.
According to speak-
victim of
handguns.
Gun
advocates
say, in ac
cordance
with Na
tion a 1
Safety
Council
ers and participants alike, it was
not an anti-handgun rally; it was
a rally for "sensible gun laws and
safe kids." The rally advocated
both background checks for hand
guns and mandatory gun locks
that could prevent child tamper
ing.
Many gun rights advocates
were sure no one would show
up we just left," said Oswald.
"The games were on Sunday
morning so
most people
had been up
late the night
before and were
sleeping in."
I played in
tramural basketball for three
years at Guilford. Luckily I've
lived to tell the story Big scary
guys with short tempers domi
nated intramural basketball.
It was bad, very bad. Some
times fights broke out. Sports
manship was missing. Student
refs just let us play.
I distinctly remember one
particular play. The play in
volved me, Smiles Smith, a
freshman beanstalk, and a gi
ant named, let's say Bill.
Bill played linebacker on
the football team. Bill didn't
like me very much. He would
shove me around under the
boards. Nevertheless, I
guarded him as best I could.
Our team had just scored.
I picked him up at about half
court. The look in his eye told
me, I'm gonna smash you, as it
usually did. Nothing was out
The Guilfordian
Forum
t
also came and protested outside
the rally. They felt handgun re
form, the purpose of the rally,
placed their 2nd Amendment right
(to bear arms) in jeopardy. Outside
Grimsley high school, on the
streets, men, women, and children
held various signs, among them
"Guns save Lives" and "Guns don't
kill people, people kill people."
But what happens when
children kill other children? When
brothers shoot brothers?
In Newark, New
Jersey, as two young boys
were playing with a gun,
seven year-old Shakur
Forte was accidentally
shot by his older brother.
The gun belonged to the
boys' legal guardian, lan
Forte, who was later
charged with endangering the wel
fare of a child and possession of
drugs. The bullet entered the back
of Shakur's head and came out his
mouth, but he survived and was
taken to the hospital and listed in
critical condition as of Thursday,
November 9th.
Fortunately Shakur
of the ordinary. This time,
however, he really did smash
me. He charged at me and lev
eled me with one swift mo
tion. No foul was called.
Senior Tom Brewster
recalls his experience. "I liked
playing intramural basketball
but I hated losing," said
Brewster. "My team got
spanked by 50 or 60 points
each game. In a way I miss
intramurals but I'm also glad
to be gone."
We know where intramu
ral sports have been; but what
do students think about
intramurals and what direc
tions are they headed?
Intramural sports. Where
are they at Guilford College?
Where are they going? When
I asked some students about
their feelings on
intramurals, one
of my first re
sponses came
from sophomore
Claire Senseney.
She asked, "Does anyone play
intramurals?"
This seems to be a sen
timent held by all Guilco stu
dents. When I asked another
student, Michelle Fournier,
November 17, 2000
Forte's name will not be added to
the list of children killed this
year in accidental shootings. Un-
fortu
nately,
how
ever,
these
statis
tics are
the
same
ones
that
A
Gun Rights Advocates will use to
suggest that accidental gun
shooting among children is de
creasing. Does it take a death to
emphasize the significance of this
accident? Is it not enough that
Shakur Forte almost lost his life
to his brother?
Not for gun rights advo
cates apparently. Forte did not die.
His story will mean nothing unless
it is used to advocate, as was the
agenda of the rally at Grimsley
high school, gun laws that protect
children's well-being, preserving
their right to life as secured within
the Declaration of Independence.
she said "Honestly, I don't
know anything about them."
Intramurals are not sup
posed to be competitive. They
were established so anyone
can be active and have fun.
Leslie
Mountcastle,
the new direc
tor of student
activities,
wants the stu
dent body to
know that she wants
intramurals, "to be fun. You
don't have to know how to
play." Intramurals are sup
posed to be relaxing and could
even help students reduce
stress. But the only way this
can happen is if there is more
involvement.
Leslie is trying to raise
student awareness about in
tramural sports. She is
spreading word through
R.A.'s, campus clubs, and the
first-year center. Intramurals
are always looking for sugges
tions for new games and sports
to play. Look for spring inter
mural signups next semester.
The only way to get an enjoyable
experience out of intramurals is
to begin playing.