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If there's one battle currently in the wars of society I'd just as soon check out of, it is gun control. By that I mean, I can see where both sides have screwed the pooch over and over again, and not owning a gun isn't a big deal to me. HOWever, I can look unbiased at history and realize that in the past REAL Nazis showed that they could control a country without private guns so much easier.In other words, no matter who you are, I am prolly on your more moderate side. That said...
I heard on the way home today an IPFW student was organizing a gun protest at the Courthouse for Saturday. Said that the latest shooting was his tipping point, he'd had enough, and wanted to do something about it.
My first thought was the usual... "Good, hope it rains Saturday."
Then I remembered that I need to work on my attitudes and my ways of looking at things, and my next thought was...
I said to myself, "Why SHOULDN'T it be a tipping point? You know, this is happened too many times now, and no matter what you see as the solution, one thing is obvious... something's broken."
Even President Trump seems to think so... although his "solution" is ineffectual and not germane to what's happening. Bobby G is more to the point in his blog today: "If you want culpability, look to the FBI, who managed to drop the ball with this latest shooter (because they were too busy trying to unseat our president with bogus charges), and the physicians and pharmaceutical companies who allow the over-medication of at-risk people while not taking into account any possible adverse "side-effects" from their drugs."
But those are also the tip of the iceberg. The couple who took the latest shooter in said they knew he was troubled over his adoptive mother's death, so why do you let him into your home WITH A GUN? I'm not saying refuse him a place to stay, but you say to him, "As long as you live here, the gun stays with US and LOCKED UP." Some doctor somewhere was treating him at one point, and with someone like this, shouldn't a doctor keep in touch regularly- and have to report to authorities if they lose touch with him?
Or how about "The gun wasn't an automatic, it was SEMI-automatic." I don't know that much about guns, but does the "semi" really matter if it SHOOTS FAST? But that is one thing we are good at in America, parsing words. I'd really love to loop in the abortion debate right here, but let me stay on one controversial subject at a time. Admit it: The NRA holds back certain laws that MIGHT be beneficial because of the fear titled, "If we give in on this one thing, how long before..." and the gun-control people are too busy playing their political game to think about what little Sherman might do to Peabody if he DIDN'T have a gun...
I tried to bring up the mental health aspect on FB the other day (shoulda been my first clue) and a "former friend" decided that instead of just pointing out where she thinks the President is doing wrong, has to festoon her comments with the extreme hatred she felt for Trump, completely invalidating anything productive she might have had to say. Who's going to listen to a sermonette on what a bastard the President is, when you get labelled a "hypocritical Christian" for saying the whole thing is better debated without the insults?
So let us tally a few things up. Among the problems we AREN'T talking about are:
Wasting time on political agendas
Throwing out non-solutions to placate the masses
Discussing the topic from a basis of hate
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY both at home, school, and doctor's offices
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY from big Pharma and political parties
Why the FBI cannot seem to take the time to do its job competently
Wasting time on semantics
All of which add up to...
So, to Brandon Blumenherst, my apologies. I shouldn't have wished precipitation on you just yet. If you can divest yourself of political hate and focus on the real problems, I will wish you a dry and successful protest. However, if your agenda is the same as MOST protests- bash Trump and scream at the NRA- then you're on yer own.
Chris:
ReplyDelete---Well, I think that about covers it (much like the old Sherwin-Williams ads). And no "primer" was even needed.
---I'm not handing out kudos because I was mentioned...that's neither here nor there. I think kudos are well deserved here because you speak THE TRUTH...(how essentially NON-PC of you).
To that fact, I say YOU GET IT...a LOT!
And you don't even OWN a gun.
That makes it even sweeter.
(but you're ALWAYS welcome to shoot any and all of my BB and airsoft weapons in our basement "gallery".)
---Such thinking as exhibited here, should be more of what needs to be discussed, and not merely a devolving into bashing a person...or implement.
(any primate could do that much)
--Real debate of the CAUSES of such shootings will always lead to valid SOLUTIONS, and not another ride on some rhetorical merry-go-round.
But...I could be wrong.
(Nah)
Very good post.
Stay safe (and erudite) up there, brother.
You would do well to remember I have seen your gallery. And I still think I could miss it completely. I'm just glad I'm in the 98th percentile of toilet-hitting.
DeleteIf someone were to ask me if I were a democrat, republican, or an independent, I'd have to answer, "I don't know anymore." Maybe that makes me an independent. My views on various issues have evolved over the years. On this particular topic, I still feel the same way I did twenty years ago and I doubt my feelings will change. I think there is alway room for improvement in any area and can appreciate how Trump was able to listen and am glad town halls were held. I also love how many students were able to come together and have their voices be heard. That's awesome. There needs to be change in the schools to keep our kids safe while still protecting the rights of gun owners. I feel our country can do that.
ReplyDeleteElsie
I think I started feeling that same way about the time Michael Reagan declared he was "very independent." Your second to last sentence I agree completely. Not so confident anymore of the last one...
DeleteCW-
ReplyDeleteLike you, I can see both sides of this argument.
It is hard for me to defend the need to own an assault rifle, but to ban all guns does not consider the real safety needs of people living in rural areas (I used to have wild coyote walking down my street and I live in the fifth largest city).
Sadly, the argument is always an all-or-nothing debate and never gets anywhere. But it is encouraging to see young people put down their smart phones, if only for a few hours.
One thing nags at me.
Guns have been legal, and available for a couple of hundred years.
These shootings have been far more recent (maybe since the late seventies?).
Is it possible that the NRA rhetoric is not all rhetoric, and that the guns are not the root cause?
Not that it is not worth having a discussion on screening policy (it is harder to get a driver’s license or adopt a cat that it is to buy a gun), but maybe the broader discussion should be held as well.
I just hope they don’t make it even harder to adopt a cat.
LC
Now, watch, someone will commit a terrorist act with a cat...
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