My daughter and her husband have no network TV. A week and a half after the Uvalde shootings, I have to say that it might've been a good thing to miss all of it when I was there to meet my grandson. Now I'm back, and the pile of newspapers have been read. I've seen videos about the mom who went inside the school to get her two sons while the police stood around outside (the police chief was in way over his head and pay grade). I've read the heartbreaking accounts of survivors and what they did to make it (pretend to be dead, wipe their classmates' blood on themselves).
Horror.
Imagine how traumatized the kids who made it will be for the rest of their lives. These are the most vulnerable of our population, and we have failed them yet again. Lambs to the slaughter. As a former teacher, one who still writes books for children, who has children, and now a grandson, I am horrified that we continue to do nothing.
Coach Steve Kerr slammed his fist into a table instead of talking about his basketball team, the Warriors. It was seen far and wide on local and national news channels. Most of us feel the same way. If the new adult (just turned 18) had shot up a nursing home, it would've still been horrible but somehow less so. Those folks have lived good long lives, and have no living parents who would grieve for the rest of their lives.
White guys of a certain vintage make me crazy with their comments on Facebook, comparing an 18-year-old with an assault rifle to a five year old choosing the opposite gender.
- Apples and oranges.
- Changing gender does not affect 21 other families (the teacher whose husband died of a heart attack two days later has left behind four parentless children, the youngest in 7th grade).
NRA supporters have every right to own guns. No one in my age group argues with that. It is assault weapons that no one of any age should own. They are for fighting in wars (another topic for another day), not to be used for any kind of recreational anything.
There, I said it. The Facebook guy won't agree. The two-date guy won't agree. I'm sorry. If you are a card-carrying NRA member, then you are part of the problem. Mass shootings in the USA are not okay anywhere, whether it be a church, a rock concert, a grocery store, a hair salon, a grade shool or a high school. Yet the NRA holds power over so many of our U.S. senators, we can't get a bill voted on to ban assault weapons, which can kill many in a short amount of time.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill two years ago to ban assault weapons. The country had a ban from 1994 to 2004. The U.S. Senate, run by Majority leader Mitch McConnell, will not even hold a vote. That's because Mitch is owned by the NRA, so he won't let the vote happen. Until the Senate signs off on the bill, there is no hope for a law that bans assault weapons.
Meanwhile, mass shootings happen around the country on a weekly, if not daily basis. Many of the perpetrators are under 21 years of age. It just makes sense to limit gun sales to anyone under 21. The adult brain isn't fully formed until 25. You can't even rent a car until you're 25. Yet you can buy an assault weapon the day after your 18th birthday and shoot and kill 21 people, 19 of them in 4th grade.
I don't care if the guy was mentally ill or gay or whatever. The fact is that if he had to wait until he was 21, by then he might've moved on instead of taking out his grudges on innocents.
If you're still reading, thank you. Please leave a comment. I know it's easier to turn away from this and pretend that it didn't happen.
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