When we care about something we can demand change. Widespread public outcry has accomplished things before -- it got the 18th Amendment of Prohibition repealed in 1933.
Today, 14 people were killed in San Bernardino because of a mass shooting. It is the second mass shooting TODAY and the 355th this year.
The United States has more mass shootings than any other country in the world.
Americans own more guns per capita than any other nation.
I am tired of the comeback, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." Yes, with a rock, a knife, a frying pan across the head -- one at a time. But a MASS shooting, that is because of a gun.
There is a segment in our population, The NRA, who in their words say, "You'll have my gun when you pry it out of my cold dead hands." The thing is, it's every one else's hands that are ending up cold and dead, not theirs.
I'm sick of "The Constitution guarantees my right to bear arms!" It's not the Second Amendment behind the mass shootings. It's the lack of background checks. It's the TYPE of weapon and amount of ammunition available. It's the ease with which both are attainable. It's because elected representatives won't pass new laws to effect and reduce gun violence because of the financial contribution amounting to millions from the NRA.
This isn't some conspiracy theory on my part. In 2014, the NRA spent over $30,000,000 in lobbying congress to defeat new gun control legislation.
We need assault weapons banned, we need background checks, we need gun license regulation.
I don't want to hear, "If we had more guns, we could shoot back." More guns means more death. More weapons means more accessibility and more lost lives. More guns won't reduce mass shootings. You can't take a hand pistol up against an assault weapon.
These mass shootings are not going to end. Even if with each one, we hope not again. We had three mass shootings in one week. This is our American culture, our gun culture, our pattern now. These shooting are not going to be the last ones.
The belief that "It won't happen here," is tragically unfounded. In December of 2012, the last thing that the parents of Sandy Hook School expected was that they wouldn't see their 5 and 6-year-old children again. Adam Lanza entered the school with one purpose: to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. He did it with a legally obtained assault weapon -- a weapon with no purpose in civilian life.
Please remember who your elected officials work for. They are elected, they serve the public.
We cannot cry as our only plan of action, nor can we say we don't want to hear or read any more news about shootings and turn away from the horror of these bloody events. And what is becoming the most dangerous: to accept this way of life in America.
Do you know what my grade school son said today in the car? He made me cry when his first words to me today were, "Another shooting. I'm glad we had our school drill." He has become scared, and more heartbreaking, he has become used to it. We are teaching our children that this is normal. He is not even out of elementary school and he is not alarmed by the news except to worry if it will come our way, and if he is prepared enough.
We have to have a public outcry. We have to enact change and we have to be loud about it. There is no reason that a group of people who believe "a gun for everyone" should determine our way of life. Our gun problem is a political problem and you'd better believe it.
Contact your elected officials. Call and email and Demand Change. We need to work for a different America for you, for your family, for all of us. Our elected officials' first job is to protect us. Tell them that, remind them of it, or replace them with ones who will.
Click here and take the ten minutes To Contact Your Elected Representative About Gun Control
Our country doesn't have to stay this way. Demanding change is our responsibility. We and our children shouldn't have to worry, "It's not going to happen to us, is it?"
We can do this. We can.
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It's the mindset that everyone should have a gun that gets me - the gun culture, like you mentioned. To own something whose sole function is to kill. I can't understand it. I feel this mindset has to change for the violence to end. All I can do is teach my children.
ReplyDeleteThis is the frightening part: we don't hear the sane argument , the middle, why do we need guns? Why do civilians need guns??
DeleteThank you for posting, Alexandra. We all need immediate access to contacts like this. About an hour before the San Bernardino shooting (which is close to home for me, literally) I posted on my blog. My words were meant to be a call for tolerance and inclusion, for mercy and compassion (I was thinking about gay rights and women's rights and not denying that racism still flourishes in this country) and now I'm worried the post reads like I want everyone to keep their guns. That's not the kind of "tolerance" I intended. So I'm glad to have this opportunity to counteract any misconception. You are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteJulie, this really breaks me heart. We need to work together, and the divide going on is just making our country one where we're called "massacre a day" everywhere else. Voices work. They worked before, they'll work again. It's complacency and the silence of it that lulls everyone into mindless acceptance and infectious powerlessness.
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