Gun enthusiast or just plain crazy stupid?

When a neighborhood has a "drug" problem... we go after the drug dealers. Well our neighborhood, The USofA, has a gun problem, and we ought to go after the gun dealers. It's just that simple. Let's start talking about who sold the gun, who manufactured the gun, who made the bullets. Let's name names. Let's start shaming them into a new business. Since that's what it is. It's a business. And it kills.

Used to be cool to smoke. Sophisticated to smoke with a martini in your hand. And socially acceptable to do both, in someone else's living room... then drive home.

Do it now and you'll never be invited back.

Used to be exciting when there was a fight on the playground. Now it's grounds for expulsion.

Used to be ok to refuse to serve someone who might be different. Different color. Different body type. Differently abled. Now it's against the law.

So what changed? We did. We decided enough was enough and we as a society didn't want to approve of this crap behavior anymore. We learned. We evolved.

Time to turn our attention to guns. Not hard to do. Do you know what the 5th top Christmas Movie of all time is? A Christmas Story. About a young boy's dream of a BB Gun for Christmas. How about we start there. Don't rent it. Don't have your kids watch it.

See someone buying a toy gun for their kid this Christmas, try the glare. The "you're not really going to buy that look" on them. If they still put it in the cart, say it out loud. Repeat after me... "you're not really going to buy that are you?"

Start small. See someone buying an assault style toy weapon? Same drill.

See someone buying a real one? Yup. Same drill. Scary I know. But until we make it uncool... until we look at people with disgust... until we shame them... until we shun them... they won't stop. Not all gun owners are crazy and intent on mass murder. Most aren't. They just think it's fun. It's cool. It makes them powerful. They get a certain respect carrying a weapon. The bigger and badder the better.

We have to transform our culture.
Want to own a handgun, for self defense perhaps... ok. Background check, training, keep it secure. How about hunting? Sure, you can own a rifle for hunting. Get a license. Get training. Get a "psychological" background test. And keep it in a secure location... not your house in the attic. Keep the ammo separate.

Maybe you collect them. You're a gun enthusiast. They fascinate you. The workmanship. The craft. The skill. Then treat them like you would any other collection. Secure them. Document them. Lend them to a museum. But keep them out of harms way and be willing to have the rest of us know where they are and who has access.

And then there are the rest of you. You know, those who want semi or fully automatic guns with 30 plus rounds at a time so you can role play as rambo?

Not ok. Now you aren't a gun enthusiast anymore. You're not a sportsman. You're plain crazy stupid and we're not going to put up with it. We're not going to allow you to have the guns. We're not going to allow you to buy the ammo because we're not going to allow the sellers to sell it anymore. Not in stores. Not online. That's how we stop it. We're not going to allow them on the open market.

Military, security, police... yup. Civilians with no other reason than they want to feel powerful and cool? No. No more. Because if you believe that your "right" to have one of these weapons of mass murder is more important than our right to walk freely in our communities, you're crazy stupid and we're going to treat you with disdain, not respect.

We're going to shun you.

We need to make it taboo. Like smoking. Or drunk driving.

Like Bullying. Racism. Discrimination.

Behaviors once accepted, even, as repulsive as they were, respected, are no longer tolerated.

It's really that simple. Owning assault weapons... selling them... profiting from gun violence... needs to be socially unacceptable. Starting right now. Enough.