(no subject)
I'm really struggling with the shooting in Connecticut. Maybe it's because it's so close to us having our own little person out in this crazy world, maybe it's because the victims were just SO young and innocent and the crime so senseless...maybe I'm just tired of the fact that this has basically become a roughly biannual thing in this country for the past decade and still NOTHING has changed. I'm just exhausted of it all. And people say that it's inappropriate and disrespectful to turn it into a political thing in the immediate wake of such a horrifying situation, which it is, but...when does it become appropriate to have that conversation? People freak out and grieve for a month or so, and then it just fades into the background like a bad memory until it happens again, repeat repeat repeat. Why are we surprised that it keeps happening when nothing is being done to even try to keep it from happening? The lack of restriction on who can own any ol' kind of gun they want, and the lack of access to quality mental healthcare is killing us. And I am not even trying to hear that "guns don't kill people, people kill people". Yes, there has to be a person behind the gun to do the damage, but also? You can't kill that many people that quickly with any other weapon. Case in point, the guy in China who stabbed 22 children on the same day of the shooting. Sure, it's tragic, and clearly the work of someone who is mentally ill on some level, but ALL of those children will be going home to their parents. I'm also not trying to hear that tightening up gun regulations is pointless, because "criminals don't follow laws". Okay, so...by that logic, what's the point in having any laws at all? If criminals don't care about following laws and will do what they want anyway, why have laws on traffic safety or murder or drugs or anything? Also, the idea that the solution to gun violence is the presence of more guns is just INSANE to me. Yes, obviously the answer to school shootings is to have all teachers pack weapons to class. Duh. Because watching your teacher have to shoot a crazy man or woman in cold blood in the middle of the school day is SO MUCH LESS traumatic for anyone involved.
I just can't think of a single reason in the whole entire world why the average civilian needs to have access to guns that shoot high numbers of rounds in a short amount of time. (I don't know all of the terminology for this kind of thing, but you know what I mean). I will never understand how we treat guns and gun ownership like it's nothing. No big deal. Here you go, have them all. I'm not being very eloquent, because I'm sick and tired and sad and rambly. Ironically enough, the day before the shooting, my baby brother's house was robbed while he and his roommate slept, and the very next day, he went out and bought a handgun. Seriously...this 19 year old kid has never owned, held, or shot a gun before, and he just went out and acquired one on less than 24 hours notice. He sure as hell didn't read the manual ("it's not that complicated, Val, you just take the safety off and shoot"), and now it's just chilling behind his bed, likely fully loaded. I'm bothered...a lot. I'm bothered that anyone would do something that makes my sweet baby brother feel unsafe and in need of a gun, I'm bothered by how easily he obtained a gun, I'm bothered at the seemingly high possibility of said gun being misused.
I'm just....sad. I don't want to live in this place anymore. I don't want to bring my baby into a worldcountry where I have to worry about eventually sending her to school, or the mall, or the movies, or anywhere that should for all intents and purposes be a safe place for her to be. I don't want to live in a country where I have to watch all of my friends feel like they should be keeping their children home from school because they're not safe there, or sending them in and crying in fear and anxiety all day long. This shit is ridiculous, and something has got to give.
I just can't think of a single reason in the whole entire world why the average civilian needs to have access to guns that shoot high numbers of rounds in a short amount of time. (I don't know all of the terminology for this kind of thing, but you know what I mean). I will never understand how we treat guns and gun ownership like it's nothing. No big deal. Here you go, have them all. I'm not being very eloquent, because I'm sick and tired and sad and rambly. Ironically enough, the day before the shooting, my baby brother's house was robbed while he and his roommate slept, and the very next day, he went out and bought a handgun. Seriously...this 19 year old kid has never owned, held, or shot a gun before, and he just went out and acquired one on less than 24 hours notice. He sure as hell didn't read the manual ("it's not that complicated, Val, you just take the safety off and shoot"), and now it's just chilling behind his bed, likely fully loaded. I'm bothered...a lot. I'm bothered that anyone would do something that makes my sweet baby brother feel unsafe and in need of a gun, I'm bothered by how easily he obtained a gun, I'm bothered at the seemingly high possibility of said gun being misused.
I'm just....sad. I don't want to live in this place anymore. I don't want to bring my baby into a worldcountry where I have to worry about eventually sending her to school, or the mall, or the movies, or anywhere that should for all intents and purposes be a safe place for her to be. I don't want to live in a country where I have to watch all of my friends feel like they should be keeping their children home from school because they're not safe there, or sending them in and crying in fear and anxiety all day long. This shit is ridiculous, and something has got to give.