After the protests
in Ferguson
President Obama
has ordered a review
of the federal programs
and funding that allow
state and local law enforcement
to acquire military weapons.
Advocates of fewer restrictions
on firearms
have learned the catchphrase
"Guns don't kill people.
People kill people"
in defense of the gun owners
who regularly handle
their (usually much smaller)
weapons responsibly.
But putting aside
(for a moment)
direct physical harm
the fight
will never be fair
so long as one side
can explain
the use of their tools
in the heat of the moment
as self-defense
and the other
armed only with rights
granted them by their democracy
cannot.
This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.
