Two women seeking equality in a state where some couples are more equal than others.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Mass Shootings are NOT Inevitable: I Refuse to Do Nothing

I was hoping my thoughts on the Charleston shooting were enough on this subject, but they're clearly not, since more keep swirling around, mostly coming up as people post fatalistic commentary on social media, basically saying that

These lives were the price we pay for the second amendment.


Some of you at this point are anticipating that I'm going to get really sassy.

For those who aren't yet: I'm about to get really sassy.

As regular readers know, I believe that we can learn from Jesus' choice never to be caught in a dilemma. Therefore: It's a bad option to ban guns entirely.

It's a worse option to keep doing what we're doing.


We shouldn't choose either. We should reject bad options and look for evidence-based strategies to protect our citizens. Because no more families should have to learn what it is to live without their husband/brother/son/mother/niece/wife/cousin/etc. And we shouldn't trample our Constitution (though I have to say, the 3/5 compromise was an incredibly stupid, cruel, demeaning choice and I'm glad we don't follow it anymore - if you need a refresher and can't Google, here is the Wikipedia article on the 3/5 compromise - so unless you would like to argue that there is a way for a human to be 3/5 of a person, don't try to convince me the Constitution was perfect as written).

Don't get me started on the mental health crap. If people were really concerned about that after Columbine or Virginia Tech or any number of other shootings, you would have done something. And my beautiful brother (who never hurt anyone in his life, just like the vast majority of others with mental illness) might have benefited from your mental health reform (because presumably it would have done more than just prevent mass shootings, it also may have prevented suicide and suffering)

and I might have gotten to hug him today when my purchase agreement went through

 instead of wondering what he would have said. But you're not really concerned, because you haven't done anything, because your family hasn't been affected by either a gun-related or mental health tragedy, and you're willing to keep playing the odds that you won't be. And I've tried to see both sides. I've tried to be understanding. I know a lot of responsible gun owners - they lock up their ammo, don't store firearms loaded, use their weapons for hunting, don't point their weapons at anything they don't want to shoot, etc.

But I know a couple that aren't stable. I know a friend whose teenage nephew committed suicide using his father's gun. And I know that we've been seeing these shootings increase, not level off or decrease. So we're clearly doing something wrong.

I don't have the answers for the perfect solution, but what Norway or Australia does seems like something to consider. Funding public health research on the subject doesn't violate anyone's constitutional rights. Enforcing and highly penalizing sale of guns to known criminals seems worthwhile. Because while it's not in the Bill of Rights, here's something that should be:

The right to have one's loved ones alive and thriving as long as possible.

Anyone in for an amendment?

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