I hate guns.
I hate guns.
And I am not afraid to say that. I'm really not big on pandering to gun owners. All of this malarkey about "hey I respect your right to own a gun" stuff isn't for me. I really don't. I've said I understand it. I tolerate it. But I just will not say I respect it.
Why are we so afraid to make guns a necessity rather than a status symbol? Soldiers need them. Cops need them. But personally, I'm neither and I see no purpose in my life for them. If I were afraid, and felt the need for protection, I might get a gun. And I'd hate it. I'd hate having to own one. I'd hate the fact that I was forced to live in a society that pushed me to that point. I'm hoping never to get there. I've gone over half a century without one. Never touched one. Never wanted to. There are those who do need them though. Victims of abuse certainly. Of course if society did more to protect them, maybe they wouldn't. Just the other night a young woman in Tucson died. Shot by her abuser. Makes me sick. He had the gun... she didn't. He's dead too.
So where did he get the gun? She had a restraining order against him. Why is someone accused of physical violence walking around with a gun? I still do not understand why we name the shooter, and we name the gun yet we just don't talk about the middleman who sold it. Why shouldn't we? Why shouldn't we know that it was Walmart or Jimmy Joe's Gun Shack? Someone wins the lottery we know where and when they bought the ticket. And then that little convenient store becomes popular! Maybe the opposite can happen when a terrifying use of a gun is publicized. I wonder how the people who profited off the sale of the weapon used in a massacre live with the guilt. Maybe they feel no guilt. Maybe we as a culture are so damn OK with guns and dead babies that there is no remorse. But keep your "price of freedom" bullshit to yourselves. Don't ever use that in a debate involving dead babies. Makes you cringe doesn't it. Callous phrase? No. An honest one. Precious, sweet little children in pools of blood. Because you refuse to give up the guns.
I'm not there yet. I could never ever look at myself in a mirror if I'd sold a gun which was then used to kill innocent children. Never ever could I wash the blood off my conscience. Yet considering how many people die EVERY DAY from gunshot wounds, there's a lot of blood on a lot of hands.
I don't have an answer. Until we start looking at guns as weapons and not status symbols or macho toys we are going to experience this ugliness in America. And it's totally our fault.
I hate guns.
And I am not afraid to say that. I'm really not big on pandering to gun owners. All of this malarkey about "hey I respect your right to own a gun" stuff isn't for me. I really don't. I've said I understand it. I tolerate it. But I just will not say I respect it.
Why are we so afraid to make guns a necessity rather than a status symbol? Soldiers need them. Cops need them. But personally, I'm neither and I see no purpose in my life for them. If I were afraid, and felt the need for protection, I might get a gun. And I'd hate it. I'd hate having to own one. I'd hate the fact that I was forced to live in a society that pushed me to that point. I'm hoping never to get there. I've gone over half a century without one. Never touched one. Never wanted to. There are those who do need them though. Victims of abuse certainly. Of course if society did more to protect them, maybe they wouldn't. Just the other night a young woman in Tucson died. Shot by her abuser. Makes me sick. He had the gun... she didn't. He's dead too.
So where did he get the gun? She had a restraining order against him. Why is someone accused of physical violence walking around with a gun? I still do not understand why we name the shooter, and we name the gun yet we just don't talk about the middleman who sold it. Why shouldn't we? Why shouldn't we know that it was Walmart or Jimmy Joe's Gun Shack? Someone wins the lottery we know where and when they bought the ticket. And then that little convenient store becomes popular! Maybe the opposite can happen when a terrifying use of a gun is publicized. I wonder how the people who profited off the sale of the weapon used in a massacre live with the guilt. Maybe they feel no guilt. Maybe we as a culture are so damn OK with guns and dead babies that there is no remorse. But keep your "price of freedom" bullshit to yourselves. Don't ever use that in a debate involving dead babies. Makes you cringe doesn't it. Callous phrase? No. An honest one. Precious, sweet little children in pools of blood. Because you refuse to give up the guns.
I'm not there yet. I could never ever look at myself in a mirror if I'd sold a gun which was then used to kill innocent children. Never ever could I wash the blood off my conscience. Yet considering how many people die EVERY DAY from gunshot wounds, there's a lot of blood on a lot of hands.
I don't have an answer. Until we start looking at guns as weapons and not status symbols or macho toys we are going to experience this ugliness in America. And it's totally our fault.
I hate guns.
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