Gun Rant
If you don't like hearing about views on guns and gun violence scroll past and don't click the cut.
I admit it felt more two weeks ago when the thoughts first started rolling around, but here it is.
I don't think anyone could argue that gun violence in this country is completely out of control. Easy access to firearms is one thing and the mindset that actually allows you to shoot another person or to think that guns solve problems is another.
I own guns. I used to have more, several were gifted to me by my mother and I sold them when she fired Chris in 2016 to help make ends meet (that and I never shot any of them and didn't really want/need them and you get tired of saying "no" when "this is a really nice, expensive one!" Yeah, sure, you're preference, not mine, it'll just sit in the safe...). I own a bolt action rifle and a Beretta Tomcat, which is a .32 caliber sub compact pistol. I used to carry regularly when I rode trails in the desert, but I don't do the long distance hard-to-access riding I used to. I don't think I have shot a gun since before Tristan was born.
I grew up with guns. We would go out in the desert and shoot, pick up brass and try to leave the place tidier than we found it (why are people such slobs?!). I grew up having high respect for firearms, what they could do, and knew how to handle, load, fire, and clean them. Guns were a thing we had and used for target practice, but it wasn't a huge thing and didn't define the family identity.
The year before oldest child was born a shooting range opened within a mile of my parents' house. My parents invested/became lifetime members and my mother went through the NRA instructor certification program. I was commissioned to do illustrations for her presentation and to be used as posters around the classroom. I was also a guinea pig for her initial presentations as she put them together. At this point my mother still seemed fairly normal about guns. She was an empty nester and needed something to occupy herself with, cool. What it morphed into was her becoming a part owner at the range and also becoming a crazy gun collector. Note prior mentioned guns I was gifted. Now, it wasn't just a "they have a lot of guns" crazy gun collector. I do not know how many guns my parents have now. But I DO know my mother set up a trust and has a tax stamp that allows her to have stupid things that your average person DOES NOT NEED like suppressors, short barreled rifles, fully automatic guns and whatever other thing a tax stamp allows you to have.
I know there are people who think All The Guns All The Time with no restrictions. I think that's stupid. NO ONE needs a gun TODAY. Anyone can wait two weeks for a handgun. I'm sure there are people who would say "but I feel endangered." There are police. "I'm afraid of police." If you shoot someone you are going to have a whole lot of police up in your business anyway and they will be much less sympathetic after the fact.
You still have the giant gun show and private sale loopholes that should be stitched up. Background checks and fingerprint cards.
I'm all for red flag laws too. Someone suggests shooting up a school or coworkers or whomever? No gun purchases, full stop. Getting someone to forfeit guns they already have is a lot trickier, especially if it is on grounds of mental instability than being a threat to the public.
The Uvalde shooting was horrific. The inaction of the police and them handcuffing parents who were trying to go in to save their kids just rattles my brain. So many people failed to act.
I don't think gun manufacturers are to blame per se, but there is a whole lot of tactless advertising. Suing the gun manufacturer isn't going to do anything. How about suing the NRA that continues to perpetuate reduced restrictions on firearm acquisition? The person who actually did the crime? The person's family who failed to see the signs or willfully ignored them?
It all makes me angry, sad, still shocked, even after all these years and events. I don't know why the USA is so stupid about this. It's like the abortion "debate." The legislators are too worried about their pockets and reelection that we get crap legislation that helps no one.
I admit it felt more two weeks ago when the thoughts first started rolling around, but here it is.
I don't think anyone could argue that gun violence in this country is completely out of control. Easy access to firearms is one thing and the mindset that actually allows you to shoot another person or to think that guns solve problems is another.
I own guns. I used to have more, several were gifted to me by my mother and I sold them when she fired Chris in 2016 to help make ends meet (that and I never shot any of them and didn't really want/need them and you get tired of saying "no" when "this is a really nice, expensive one!" Yeah, sure, you're preference, not mine, it'll just sit in the safe...). I own a bolt action rifle and a Beretta Tomcat, which is a .32 caliber sub compact pistol. I used to carry regularly when I rode trails in the desert, but I don't do the long distance hard-to-access riding I used to. I don't think I have shot a gun since before Tristan was born.
I grew up with guns. We would go out in the desert and shoot, pick up brass and try to leave the place tidier than we found it (why are people such slobs?!). I grew up having high respect for firearms, what they could do, and knew how to handle, load, fire, and clean them. Guns were a thing we had and used for target practice, but it wasn't a huge thing and didn't define the family identity.
The year before oldest child was born a shooting range opened within a mile of my parents' house. My parents invested/became lifetime members and my mother went through the NRA instructor certification program. I was commissioned to do illustrations for her presentation and to be used as posters around the classroom. I was also a guinea pig for her initial presentations as she put them together. At this point my mother still seemed fairly normal about guns. She was an empty nester and needed something to occupy herself with, cool. What it morphed into was her becoming a part owner at the range and also becoming a crazy gun collector. Note prior mentioned guns I was gifted. Now, it wasn't just a "they have a lot of guns" crazy gun collector. I do not know how many guns my parents have now. But I DO know my mother set up a trust and has a tax stamp that allows her to have stupid things that your average person DOES NOT NEED like suppressors, short barreled rifles, fully automatic guns and whatever other thing a tax stamp allows you to have.
I know there are people who think All The Guns All The Time with no restrictions. I think that's stupid. NO ONE needs a gun TODAY. Anyone can wait two weeks for a handgun. I'm sure there are people who would say "but I feel endangered." There are police. "I'm afraid of police." If you shoot someone you are going to have a whole lot of police up in your business anyway and they will be much less sympathetic after the fact.
You still have the giant gun show and private sale loopholes that should be stitched up. Background checks and fingerprint cards.
I'm all for red flag laws too. Someone suggests shooting up a school or coworkers or whomever? No gun purchases, full stop. Getting someone to forfeit guns they already have is a lot trickier, especially if it is on grounds of mental instability than being a threat to the public.
The Uvalde shooting was horrific. The inaction of the police and them handcuffing parents who were trying to go in to save their kids just rattles my brain. So many people failed to act.
I don't think gun manufacturers are to blame per se, but there is a whole lot of tactless advertising. Suing the gun manufacturer isn't going to do anything. How about suing the NRA that continues to perpetuate reduced restrictions on firearm acquisition? The person who actually did the crime? The person's family who failed to see the signs or willfully ignored them?
It all makes me angry, sad, still shocked, even after all these years and events. I don't know why the USA is so stupid about this. It's like the abortion "debate." The legislators are too worried about their pockets and reelection that we get crap legislation that helps no one.