You don’t.
Do the words “well-regulated” mean anything to anybody?!?
If you belong to the NRA, and you give your money to an organization that actively works to keep highly effective killing tools in as many (white) hands as possible, you don’t care at all about any of the people who lost their lives (at least 14 so far) today in San Bernardino. Or about the other mass shooting that happened today in Savannah, Georgia that you probably didn’t even hear about because the news has been covering a different mass shooting… Lord help us.
If you support an organization that lobbies (buys off) our representatives in order to pass legislation that makes it illegal for the government to keep statistics on gun violence, you are couldn’t give less of a f**k about the kids who were murdered at Sandy Hook.
If you are one of the throngs of talking heads who accuse rational people of “trying to politicize a tragedy” every time there is another mass shooting in the hopes that your accusation will delay a right outrage just long enough to let apathy set in, you are part of the problem.
If you have ever said some awful phrase like, “If we outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns,” or “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” and you actually meant it, you are part of the engine of ignorance that pulls along the freight train of death and destruction that devastates so many families and communities.
If you look at a hoard of white guys with assault rifles walking through our streets as “patriots” who are demonstrating their 2nd Amendment rights, but you look at black folks with guns as a threat to public safety, you couldn’t care less about black lives… Let alone “blue” lives or “all” lives mattering. Also, you are totally racist.
If you can listen to Donald Trump talk for more than 30 seconds without wanting to either throw up or put your head through a window (or both), you are lacking something very important inside of you. I’m completely serious… You don’t get to fan the flames of hatred, and then act all sad when that fire ends up hurting real people.
If you have ever shared garbage like this, you don’t get to act like you care about gun violence.
The murders today in San Bernardino were America’s 352nd mass shooting so far in the 336 days of 2015… More than one per day. You can’t look at a statistic like this and believe that is ANYTHING CLOSE to what the writers of the 2nd Amendment were trying to protect. And if you’re one of the people working to turn the 2nd Amendment into something that legitimizes the reality of daily gun violence in America, you don’t get to post some BS status about how your “thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.” You just don’t. It is complete garbage. You are full of so much crap, and everyone other you and your gun nut friends can see it.
Just in case you can’t read it, the bottom says, “We won’t sell Kinder chocolate eggs in the interest of child safety. Why not assault weapons?”
And truthfully, I probably don’t care either. I waste my energy on anger at the idiocy and indifference that this country embodies when it come to gun violence… instead of… I don’t know… Marching??? So yeah, I have no idea what to do about it. The majority of the people we have elected are the sort of folks that stop any conversation about how to make these tragedies less frequent before those conversations even begin. They take two days to fearfully push through resolutions about Syrian refugees based on an act of violence on the other side of the world (that didn’t even involve Syrian refugees), but they can’t pass even the slightest bit of common sense gun regulations… All because a bunch of misinformed fear-addicts believe that our black president is coming for their guns. It’s so very frustrating. I know that human consciousness changes slowly, but it’s hard to be patient when this crap keeps happening on a daily basis… Especially when half the country thinks that the answer is MORE EFFING GUNS! GAH!!!
Yup… I don’t know what to do. It’s beyond baffling. I just want you all to know–and you know who you are–that I see you. When you feign concern for victims of these shootings… when you talk about “your heart breaking” for their families… when you use the phase “thoughts and prayers” each time the steady drumbeat of gun violence plays on in this country–I see you. A whole lot of people just like me see you. And we all see that you are completely full of shit.
Merry Christmas…
I’m not doing a Patron shout out. I’m sorry if this one too much of a downer… Sometimes I’m more hopeful than others. Thanks to everyone who supports what I do. Here are some other things I’ve written about this issue:
Some Thoughts On Guns In Church
Beware Of Toddlers With Guns!
More Guns Are Not The Answer
Guns For Christians Are Like Condoms For Nuns
A Common Sense (Non-Religious) Case Against Guns
Finding Hope In The Midst of Mass Shootings
Getting Rid of Windows
The Boeskool 
Spot on. Encourage everyone to call and email their Senator saying “it’s enough!”
I don’t know what the answer is. But maybe, just maybe, it begins with sane, clear-eyed people like you calling out this bullshit every time it gets written or broadcast. Every time. Every. Single. Time. Until the truth starts to sink in.
Soldiers don’t fire their “rifles,”or “pistols” often, even in combat. Yes, we are/were (in my case) armed and well regulated. The unwillingness of the Nine Old Men (I know, I know, it is no longer accurately descriptive) to properly interpret, the real meaning of the 2d amendment is gross neglect on their part. As a 27 year veteran of the Army–Infantry for anyone who cares–and a 20 year veteran in the mental health field, it seems clear that we could reduce the Sandy Hooks, Auroras, Charlestons, and San Bernadinos by background checks, a wait period, and a required certificate of training as minimum requirements for purchasing a gun…any kind of gun. BTW, after carrying a pistol and an M-16 for a couple of years, I don’t own and haven’t owned a “gun” for more than 45 years.
Thanks Bibb. Even if you did have a gun… I know plenty of reasonable people who have guns. But “bearing arms” is not necessarily an inherent right to an Abrams Tank. It is just idiocy to think that what we have right now is anything close to “Well-regulated.”
I couldn’t find the words to express my feeling, but you just did it beautifully. Thank you.
This is just what I’ve been saying..but I use more profanity. My general statement to all the “come and take ’em” people with gun stickers on their cars in place of those little stick people is this: Sure thing! All you fwhite olks with the slobbering hard-ons for guns go ahead and buy all the guns you want and roll around town with them BUT I don’t want to HEAR ONE EFFING WORD or TEAR about dead babies, children or grandmas who are butchered as a result of your rabbid obsession with our 50 state kill shelter.
http://m.nydailynews.com/news/politics/gop-candidates-call-prayers-calf-massacre-article-1.2453261
Did you see this? Seems like a spot on call out!
Chris, I understand why you are so angry, I am too. I just think you are angry at the wrong people. It seems to me that yelling at people who disagree with you about gun control is misplaced. Kinda like the people who are hating all Muslims because of terrorist attacks by crazy radicals. You should be against the people committing the crimes, not the people who have different opinions on the solution.
And if you stop and see the other side as possibly having valid concerns, maybe we as a nation can come together to find ways to help people who feel so outside society and so angry that they lash out and hurt others and themselves. Because I think there is a common motivation between the mass shootings and the terrorist attacks. And I don’t think gun control is going to solve the problem.
jhaney, your logic has been the logic used by the gun lobby for years. Repeated efforts have been made to include the gun lobby in crafting well thought out legislation, but under Wayne LaPierre’s leadership of the NRA, that has not been possible.
There is NOTHING harmful in regulating gun ownership similar to car ownership or driving privileges. But we cannot even get that common-sense legislation passed due to Congressmen and women who are funded by the deep pockets of the NRA. You are right that gun control will not affect the anger and eagerness of some people to commit harm. However, it will limit the number of victims and families that they are able to impact. If we worry more about the people who were lost today and their right to live free in this nation, than we do about protecting the rampant misuse of the 2nd Amendment, then we might see our nation turn around on this issue. But only one side is not giving ground.
I totally agree with you. I don’t own a gun and I had to get a protective order against my ex-husband because I was afraid he would shoot me with one from his arsenal.
What I’m thinking, though, is that we need to be really intentional and thoughtful of how we approach solving problems. Beating our heads against the wall isn’t making the wall move. Venting hatred and frustration to the wrong target isn’t helping.
So, maybe let the topic of gun control rest until passions are lower and everyone can think rationally. Turn the focus to the perpetrator’s motivations and look for common ground on a solution in that direction.
I am a veteran (Army 1965-1967) Qualified with M-14 rifle, M-70 Grenade launcher, 45 cal. pistol, 107 MM mortars and M-60 machine gun. I have never owned a weapon and don’t plan to. I am not against ownership of guns, but i am for making owner responsible for what is done with them, for training and registration. With the help of the NRA we continue to foster the most violent society in the developed world.
Here is another thought– these horrific mass murders have multiplied against the backdrop of the vicious fight about gun control. Maybe the antagonism between the parties is feeding the rage in very malleable, delicate minds. So, maybe if we are hating each other we are feeding the hate that will lash out at innocents.
Fight evil with good. Do you believe that enough to put it into action toward people with opposing viewpoints? To treat them online in your comments as you would want to be treated? I try to do this, but if I have offended anyone on this blog, let me know, and I will apologize.
You paint with a awfully big brush for such a narrow minded opinion. To lump ALL people who’s opinion differs from yours in the same bucket is to perpetuate the problem. Somehow, I don’t think that’s what you were going for, but that is what you accomplished.
The NRA and the gun lobby is only as powerful as we allow them to be. Want change? Contact your representatives (find them at http://act.commoncause.org/site/PageServer?pagename=sunlight_advocacy_list_page ) and let them know in no uncertain terms that you want change. When there are more voices raised for common sense gun regulations than against, your representatives WILL listen. The NRA can give them all the money in the world, but it won’t matter if they are longer be elected. The NRA can’t vote, only citizens can. I currently belong to a group of gun-owners and non-gun-owners working together to effect common sense gun legislation (http://acrgo.org), but there are many others out there (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Gun_control_advocacy_groups_in_the_United_States). We are growing more powerful every day. Donate, sign petitions, write a letter to the editor, call or write to your President/Vice President/Congressman/Senator/State Representatives, vote. Make noise. To do nothing is to accept what is going on now, and we just can’t afford to do that. Lives are at stake.
Thanks for the post on this subject. I feel your anger and pain, too.
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