When I am angry I cry. Right now I am sobbing because the Supreme Court has just delivered a ruling that I am certain will end badly. By a vote of six to three they determined that the Trump era ban on bump stocks did not satisfy the test of whether or not such a mechanism creates a machine gun and should therefore be legal to own. The executive order arose after one of the worst mass shootings occurred at a concert in Las Vegas where fifty eight people were killed and five hundred were injured. The bloodbath was accomplished by a killer with an AR-15 adjusted with a bump stock that allowed him to keep shooting without pulling the trigger over and over again.
One of my former students attended that concert and it has left a traumatic mark on her that is never going to heal completely. She spoke of lying in the blood of people who had been shot around her where she lay hoping that none of the shots would hit her. While she was trying to be as still as possible people were screaming and wailing in pain while some were dying. It was an horrendous event that left her in a state of PTSD. Only after attending months of counseling while living with her family was she even able to work or think of being independent once again.
I have written over and over about the consequences of our nation’s obsession with gun culture. It is one thing for someone to have a rifle for hunting but no ordinary citizen needs an AR-15 much less one with a bump stock. I will never understand why those in positions of power bow to the gun lobby over and over again rather than considering the safety of our citizens. Guns have become a kind of false god for so many people who seem to think that the more they have the more secure they will be. In the meantime the laws are so lax that weapons all too often find themselves in the hands of people who are dangerously disturbed. Any efforts to make it more difficult to own a gun or to ban certain types of guns and accessories is shunned over and over again even as we watch one mass shooting after another.
I do not think that the second amendment was meant to include much of the modern day weaponry. I don’t believe that the Founding Fathers imagined people walking around in stores and public places with guns. The times have changed since that amendment was written and we don’t need paramilitary private citizens anymore. We have National Guards, police, sheriffs and all sorts of law enforcement officers not to mention the different branches of our military. Hunters only need a good rifle, not a weapon that utterly destroys the very essence of humans or animals. The reticence of our lawmakers to face the reality of their deadly decisions is unbelievable.
How many times do I have to cry for innocents killed because we can’t get control over the flow of weapons in our nation? How many times do I have to write about this only to be ignored? I am not advocating taking away a pistol or a rifle from anyone but I think that we have to reach an agreement that speaks to common sense or the killings will continue.
I know people who live in other countries who are fearful of even visiting the United States. They do not understand why guns are so plentiful here. I can’t say that I blame them for thinking this way because I don’t understand it either.
I find it ironic that a jury just found a man guilty of three felonies because he lied on a gun permit when he was actively taking illegal drugs. I do not forgive him for his misdeeds but the fact that he may go to prison for as much as twenty five years for doing this seems quite hypocritical given that we seem to actually encourage people to buy guns and no doubt many of them are lying about their physical and mental states. Most of the time nobody bothers to even check the accuracy of such things and even if they do, law enforcement often only gives a slap on the wrist.
I will never give up advocating for the safety of the people around me. Our gun laws must be overhauled in favor of public safety. I don’t want to see Christmas cards of families, including the children, holding rifles. Our worship and fascination with guns is sick.
I had to scour my ninety-five year old father-in-law’s home for guns. I was shocked at how many there were but happy that I found them and locked them away. Then I learned that he was keeping one surreptitiously in his room in our house. I had to all but pry it away from him. He has severe tremors and is often confused. There is no way that he is protecting himself with a gun. He is a danger with one in his hands as I suspect many gun owners also are.
I will keep praying about this and harping on our need for gun control laws until my last breath. It is something that we must be willing to do to stop the unnecessary bloodshed. If we don’t do something someone we love may find themselves in the next mass shooting situation. It has to stop!
All It Takes Is A Little Love 