I WROTE THIS THREE YEARS AGO....THREE FRICKIN' YEARS AGO!
This last gut of gun violence just nudges me again.
This last gut of gun violence just nudges me again.
Curiously, it is sparked by the hope I felt when I saw the comments by an NRA rep saying that the OCT (Open Carry in Texas) had "crossed the line from enthusiasm to downright foolishness," when they carried high-powered semiautomatic rifles into fast food restaurants.
I am one who clings to the belief that MOST healthy human beings can sit and talk reasonably and come to some consensus. I am one who believes that if you know I respect you that you will return that respect and, even if we disagree, we can TALK and come to some middle ground.
I believe there are people in the NRA who could sit with folks who think as I do on gun control and with respect that then creates trust, some inching forward might just happen.
The above statement just re enforced what I cling to.
And I genuinely felt hope.
But then the next day the following statement was made by the NRA's chief lobbyist:
"It was a poor word choice in an alert that went out," Cox said. "But again, the underlying point here is: what is the best tactic to win? That's what we're interested in. We're not interested in distractions. We're not interested in arguing with the national news media over this. We're interested in winning."
winning - to gain in or as if in battle or contest
Winning?!?
Who does or doesn't carry a gun is about WINNING?
Winning WHAT?
Now, I admit that I am a lousy competitor. I am not against competition; I am just not good at it. The prize just seldom seems worth the battle to me.
And in this battle, I don't even know what the prize is.
Lots of people are being killed by lots of guns.
Because a handful of men almost 250 years ago said I could carry a gun.
The NRA clings to that and, I guess, thinks if they don't cling to it....
...they won't "win".
To me, a 'win' that creates the potential for so much 'loss' is...
...NOT. A. WIN.
...NOT. A. WIN.
TODAY...3 YEARS LATER!
We just experienced the biggest mass killing in US history and are being told that this is not the time to talk about it....so we don't...because 'they' said not to do so...plus it is easier to not speak...but if I don't do SOMETHING, I feel complacent in it all...because I AM....as Steve Israel says in his NY Times Op-Ed:
We just experienced the biggest mass killing in US history and are being told that this is not the time to talk about it....so we don't...because 'they' said not to do so...plus it is easier to not speak...but if I don't do SOMETHING, I feel complacent in it all...because I AM....as Steve Israel says in his NY Times Op-Ed:
Third, the problem is you, the reader. You’ve become inoculated. You’ll read this essay and others like it, and turn the page or click another link. You’ll watch or listen to the news and shake your head, then flip to another channel or another app. This horrific event will recede into our collective memory.
That’s what the gun lobbyists are counting on. They want you to forget. To accept the deaths of at least 58 children, parents, brothers, sisters, friends as the new normal.
That’s what the gun lobbyists are counting on. They want you to forget. To accept the deaths of at least 58 children, parents, brothers, sisters, friends as the new normal.
Yep, "the new normal"....that's what this is for my grandkids..."normal"....and I hate that...so I talk to God and ponder and call my congressman and write blogs read by a few and try to figure out what to do next because I cannot accept this as MY new normal.
"We're not interested in arguing with the national news media over this. We're interested in winning."
And right now, it feels like I am letting them win.
Maybe, I am the problem.
"We're not interested in arguing with the national news media over this. We're interested in winning."
And right now, it feels like I am letting them win.
Maybe, I am the problem.
2 comments:
Boy, do I hear you! Except I don't actually believe that those men years ago were giving permission for what is going on these days. The only well-regulated militias we have are the police and the military; nothing else is even close to being well-regulated. It scares me to wonder where on earth we are headed with all of this. If Sandy Hook couldn't snap us to our senses, I truly don't think that anything else will.
Don't get me started. I recently watched Piers Morgan trying to talk to Alex Jones, (check it out on youtube,) it's quite laughable and a little bit scary when you think that people like him are given a voice about guns.
Ok, we have a certain amount of gun violence here in the UK, but nothing on the scale you have over there. And after every mass shooting there's always someone there spouting the 2nd amendment rights.
It still amazes me that you can go into a supermarket and while you're filling your basket with fruit and veg, you can buy an assault rifle too.
It's such a shame that the NRA has so much power over your lawmakers. I suppose that's why several States have recently passed laws to carry guns in churches etc. Was it Wayne LaPierre that said you should put more guns on the street?
I can't imagine what it's like to send your kids to school and not have them come back because of a crackpot armed to the teeth. I really thought the tragic events at Sandy Hook would wake up the nation, but no, it carries on, and on, and on.
Perhaps that's where they think they're winning. No matter how many mass shootings there are, it's always 'you'll never take away my right to bear arms, so yah boo sucks to you', the NRA and the gun toting lunies will always 'win'.
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