I consider myself to be very liberal on every issue and like every sane person I know, I too am sick and tired of the gun violence and mass shootings that too many have become numb to. I am sick of thoughts and prayers being tweeted out from the very men and women in a position to do something more than tweet out thoughts and prayers. To state the obvious, we need serious legislative action on guns NOW.
As I stated, I’m very liberal, but even I know that all guns could not realistically be confiscated and I don’t even believe that they should be confiscated. Hunting rifles and small handguns for personal home protection don’t bother me if the person obtaining and owning those weapons passes a stringent background check (a check that has to be renewed from time to time), is required to take and pass safety and training classes, registers the weapons and carries insurance on them. This infringes on exactly zero freedoms, it’s simple common sense.
Freedom in this country doesn’t come from the ability to own an infinite amount of guns, anyone who thinks that it does is unhinged. Military-style guns and high-powered human killing machines are obviously not what our forefathers had in mind when they created the Second Amendment for a well-regulated militia. Anyone who thinks that they did is unhinged. Hell, none of the weapons we have now could even be fathomed by our musket-toting forefathers. Democrats are squarely in the middle on this issue, it’s the insanity of “conservatives” pulling the conversation to the deepest, darkest corners of the right that makes even the most obvious, common sense measures seem “radical.” The notion that Democrats are taking some kind of extreme position is ridiculous.
There is absolutely no excuse for the amount of gun violence our country suffers day after day, month after month, year after year. There is absolutely no need for your average citizen to own military-style guns or high-powered guns which have the sole purpose of murdering and injuring a lot of people in a very short amount of time. There absolutely are obvious, real world examples that we can follow when it comes to gun safety measures and legislation. It is absolutely maddening and despicable for “conservatives” to repeat NRA talking points every single time this happens rather than participate in finding solutions. “Conservatives” have flooded my social media with tired, irresponsibly stupid postings, as they always do after the latest massacre. For example:
“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”
“Gun control would not have stopped ____________, criminals always find a way.”
“More people die of _________ each year, so why don’t we regulate________?!”
“Now is not the time to talk about gun control, it’s disgusting to politicize this, the bodies aren’t even cold.”
“It’s not a gun issue, it’s a heart issue, it’s an issue of a lack of God and discipline in the home”
All of this is bullshit.
The oh, well, what can you do crowd is sickeningly complacent, and in my mind, complicit, because they continue to support politicians who act as cowering minions of the NRA. It’s obvious what needs to be done. When terrorists crashed into our buildings and killed Americans we didn’t hear “Now is not the time to talk about terrorism.” That would have been ludicrous, yet here we are again, the broken record of complacent and complicit stupidity on the right just keeps on playing. Gun violence is a public health issue; it’s a common sense issue. America is grotesquely unique in having this problem and a simple look at the differences between our country and dozens of others reveals the obvious. It’s the guns, stupid. There are plenty of disturbed, deranged, evil people in every country on this planet, but those countries don’t suffer from gun massacres and record-breaking gun deaths at a regular, numbing pace like we do. These countries have a variety of gun control laws that clearly lessen the possibility of gun massacres. So what could possibly be the difference? Hmmm, I wonder. Sane people know the answer. It’s the gun control, stupid.
There are things we can and must do. There are countless safety measures,regulations and laws in place for countless other things in this country….and those safety measures, regulations and laws may not always prevent every injury or death, but we don’t say, “Screw it, it’s pointless.” Sane people know the answer.
Here’s how it would sound if the right reacted to other potential safety issues that people face.
We put electronic monitoring tags on newborns to prevent them from being kidnapped from a hospital.
That’s stupid, there’s no guarantee it will stop every case of a baby being kidnapped. Kidnappers find a way.
We put our children in carefully tested, regulated car seats and adults in seat belts to give them the best chance at surviving a crash.
That’s ridiculous, car seats and seat belts don’t save every person involved in a car accident. Fake news!
We wear reflective clothing if biking or walking at night to avoid being run over.
Plenty of people would still be run over even if they were wearing reflective clothing at night.
We use back-up view cameras in cars to prevent backing into objects or worse, over people.
People can get around using the camera, what if they don’t even look at the screen? People will still get run over.
We regulate our food and household products to protect against poising or injury.
Yeah, those regulations REALLY work, huh? Then why are people still poisoned or injured at home?
We illuminate exit doors in public places; we install fire alarms and sprinklers in public buildings and homes to give people the best chance at escaping a fire.
People still die in fires, even at places with light up exit signs and sprinklers.
We put “choking hazard” warnings on small toys to protect small children from choking to death.
Yeah, those warning really help, don’t they? Babies still end up choking to death on small toys! Small objects don’t cause babies to choke to death, ignorant parents who aren’t watching their kids cause babies to choke to death.
We maintain roadways to lessen car accidents and save lives.
Thousands still die in car accidents every year, so what’s the point of all the expense and hassle of road repairs?
We regulate cribs so babies are safer.
Babies still get strangled or suffocated in cribs….so what good are these so-called safety regulations?
We regulate what chemicals can go into our air and water.
Chemicals are released into the water and air all the time, you can’t stop every single bad thing from getting into the air and water, so regulating them won’t save everyone from being poisoned.
We regulate what people can bring onto airplanes.
Yeah? Well criminals don’t follow the law and they’ll find a way to bring weapons aboard, so the laws are meaningless.
We spend millions researching and formulating medicines for every disease imaginable in the hope that we’ll save lives.
So? Cancer and other diseases still kill tens of thousands of Americans every year! You can’t stop every single disease from happening!
We post warning labels and signs everywhere because saving even a few lives is worth it.
Warning labels and signs are for idiots, and if idiots do things that are obviously dangerous then they deserve what they get.
If every life can’t be saved, why try at all?
That’s a perfect summation of what’s become of the “conservatives” in this country; morally bankrupt extremists who hold a worldview that is selfish, idiotic, cowardly, without empathy, without common sense, without common humanity.
