Guns Shoot, Man Murders
In which yours truly is about to express a very unpopular opinion and lose all raging liberal street cred.
I was going to leave this issue alone but I feel I need to get this off my chest or it's going to plague me for the rest of the year.
I believe in gun control. I don't believe people should have easy access (if any) to an AK-47 or an Uzi.
However, I also just as strongly believe in the right to bear arms. As a double minority in this country who is regularly discriminated against and has to constantly worry about personal protection, I can't depend on the police (because half of them are crooks themselves) or the government to protect my rights or my personal safety and there may come a day where I may be forced to take up arms to defend myself or loved ones by any means necessary.
Outlawing guns isn't going to solve the problem either. When something becomes illegal, people tend to want it all the more simply because they aren't allowed to have it.
Stricter gun control laws will help and it needs to happen but it's not the overall solution.
About a year ago I was watching a documentary and a point was made about America. One of the reasons why we have much more violence in this country as opposed to other countries is because of the rotting festering Wild Wild West mentality/culture that has existed since the inception of this country. There are other countries that have easy access to guns but don't have a fraction of the violence we have.
We believe that might makes right and violence simply for the sake of violence is acceptable. We're monsters with too much hubris to reflect or revolve because to do so would be perceived as weakness. We're bullies, we're abusive and we wonder why the rest of the world hates us but refuse to acknowledge, much less address the issues before us.
Until we change the culture and mindset, nothing is going to change. Whether it's educating people on respecting firearms, easier access to mental health treatment, or hell, instilling in everyone to respect life.
At the end of the day, a gun is a tool. It has been used to take countless innocent lives, but it has also saved countless lives. Whether it's an actual honest cop protecting and serving or a single mother defending herself and her children from a predator, or a gay man protecting himself from a potential bashing, or a black man keeping himself from being lynched. You address the mindsets that result in massacres like this, and that's when you will see change and maybe then will guns become less necessary.
If this post is any indication, I'm very ambivalent when it comes to guns. I own this. On the one hand, I think the world would be better off without them. On the other hand, I'm planning on purchasing one, taking classes, within a year. I'd rather have one and not need it, than to not have one and need it. I'm leaning towards a Beretta in case anyone's interested.
And no, having a gun in and of itself will not make you Superman. In fact you are more likely to get shot if the attacker knows you have a gun simply because you are perceived as a threat.
Which is why I'm always smdh when people (usually white folks) drone on about how campus shootings would never happen if everyone was allowed to carry guns.
People who believe that (again usually white folks), clearly have never been in the inner city. In the inner city, EVERYBODY has guns. The bangers, the drug dealers, the cashier at the convenient store, even 78-year-old Mrs. Jenkins who gets around in a walker. She's packing hardware too and will bust a cap in a fool who tries to break into her house. They possess guns either to commit crimes or to protect themselves from criminals, but crime and shootings do not suddenly decrease because a criminal knows you have a gun. Hell, policemen have guns and they get shot at all the time.
And by the way Tenn., I'm gonna need you NOT to pass anymore laws making it legal to carry firearms into bars.
The guns are the tools and yes they make killing easier than other weapons which is why people are quick to use them and stricter gun laws should happen. But until we address the root causes as to why people commit these crimes, mental issues, hate crimes (reinforced by the rampant bigotry that pervades our media), poverty, whatever the case may be, expect more of the same.
My heart goes out to the families and loved ones of the victims and survivors of this heartbreaking tragedy today. And I'm glad to see Mainstream America showing compassion and outrage over the senseless violence that befell these innocent children.
I would really love to see that same type of reaction from America the next time the children murdered aren't (primarily) white but black and brown, be they Jordan Davis, Trayvon Martin, Lawrence King, Darius Simmons, or those Muslim babies children who were gassed in an Ohio Mosque a few years back.
But that might be asking for too much.
And for those of you looking to help after the latest shooting.
Okay I'm done now. As you were.