gun control: yes? no? maybe?

Guns. Weapons. The debate on whether their creation made the world a safer place or the exact opposite is still on- even though I think it's rather logical if you think about it.

Right now there's a turmoil in Guatemala about a bill that aims to regulate the acquisition and the bearing of guns by civilians: their rights and the limits of those rights are to be set by the Congress any day now.

This is -no doubt- a very complicated issue, especially in a place like Guatemala: a country that ends the day with close to twenty killed- and yes, I mean every day.

I think it is fair to say that it's easier to believe that the way to survive this reality is by having your own guns to 'protect' yourself, instead of looking at the whole picture. IT IS a bit more complicated than that, I believe.

Gun-trafficking- the amount of illegal weapons owned by Guatemalans is ridiculous, and most crimes are committed by unregistered weapons, but even if they weren't, the registration system we have is so pathetic the police would have to go through piles and piles of paper to locate a single gun.

The bill in question doesn't even come close to approaching this out-of-control weapon situation we have and have had since...mmm...forever? Well, at least for as long as I've been around- but it's something. It is time to start discussing this important matter: people are scared, the State of Guatemala isn't capable of granting us protection and safety, but I don't think that arming ourselves, our whole society, is going to change that: it hasn't up until now, maybe it's time to change strategy, no?

This bill doesn't forbid civilians to carry guns, it only states what kind of guns they're allowed to. I'm very ignorant on the weapons theme, but I've heard people who know more than me say that the bill needs a lot of changes. Well, changes should be made, there should be an agreement, but above all, we should start building a safer society- not through guns. Perhaps we should start demanding more of the authorities (it is their job to protect us after all- we literally pay them to, right???) and helping them know how to protect us: technology is the safer shot, no?

Anyways, I've been thinking about this and I saw a car with a rather interesting bumper sticker today, it made me want to write about it.

kids! stop fighting!

Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela need to make up. Colombia should apologize to Ecuador for the display of Colombian military action on Ecuadorian territory, and Venezuela should stay out of it.

In other words, I mean to say: Álvaro Uribe should to accept he shouldn't have done what he did without the knowledge and cooperation of the government of Ecuador, and accept the possible sanctions. Rafael Correa should accept his apology. Hugo Chávez should be smart about this and look at the bigger picture: a divided Latinamerica does Latinamericans no good.

dream girl

i love the dave matthews band, and i'm especially crazy about "dream girl". there's something about that song that touches me; here's the video:

more numbers

53, that is the number on my mind tonight. 53 is the number of people that got on a bus friday and got nowhere. they no longer exist. they died.

i wonder where they were going. home perhaps? was someone waiting for them? who knows.

life's unfair, that's no secret. still, it never ceases to amaze me. and death- it's scary. you never see it coming and then, suddenly, you're gone.

who suffers, really, are those left behind: those whose only choice is to accept and let go. and to forget, if they can.

the public transportation situation in Guatemala is ridiculous. we're so irresponsible...i can't even imagine how many guatemalans have died because of negligence and lack of interest. the buses are in precarious conditions, that is something everyone can see. not only do they pollute horribly, but they're also a tremendous threat to our safety. and the drivers---they're usually very unqualified to drive such vehicles. let's put aside the fact that being a bus driver in Guatemala means risking your own safety in many ways(another problem that needs to be solved)...still- drivers are responsible for many peoples' lives, and should be better prepared.

what happened to this people is a tragedy, one of many that took place in Guatemala on friday night.