They Care More About Guns Than Kids
Why do we allow this?
The mass shooting at the Uvalde, Texas school (about three hours southwest from me) was absolutely horrific and infuriating. The more I heard the angrier I became. It’s time for angry parents to take the reins because the politicians are worthless and they care more about their gun lobbies than our kids.
My son had a 7th grade award ceremony the day after (he received straight A’s and a math award). The parents had to line up with ID between locked mantrap doors (I’m hoping the glass was bullet proof) to get in. We couldn’t really relax to enjoy our kids’ achievements or the fact that this was the first ceremony since 2019 due to Covid, because we were all on edge for the basic safety of our children. Who knew if some idiot copycat killer decided to buy an AR-15 and unlimited rounds of ammunition and try to make news at another school?
Good Guy With A Gun BS
We’re often fed the line from the NRA, ‘The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.’ Well tell that to the little kids at Robb Elementary. While fourth graders were calling 911 multiple times begging for police to come and one little girl smeared blood from her dead friend on her so the gunman would think she was dead, NINETEEN police officers with guns and body armor stood around for over an hour before they finally entered the classroom. How many kids bled out while the good guys waited for back-up? They wouldn’t face the shooter with their handguns let they let children with nothing but crayons get slaughtered?
This Is A Choice
After the Parkland shooting in Florida a Republican-led state legislature passed some basic gun safety laws (raising minimum age to 21 and banning bump stocks) that were signed by a Republican governor and they weren’t voted out, so change is absolutely possible. The majority of the public favors things like universal background checks. It is a deliberate choice to abandon common sense public safety and offer ludicrous ideas like arming teachers or only having one door for an entire school. It’s also infuriating to note that the NRA convention held in Houston just days after the shooting banned firearms for access to the convention. Why? Because they care more about their guns and the safety of their speakers than they care about our kids.
It’s Not Just Schools
Only ten days earlier some racist nut job went to a grocery store in Buffalo to specifically kill Black people. In 2019 a teenager went to Walmart in El Paso to target Latinos. In 2021 a 22-year-old targeted Asians in Atlanta spas. There have been mass shootings at movie theaters and music festivals. How many people have to die? This is a uniquely American issue.
Common Sense Regulation
The Second Amendment text states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
This shouldn’t be a political issue. We don’t let kids buy alcohol until they are 21, why should we let them buy AR-15s? (Side note – in Texas you can buy AR-15s at 18 but you can’t get a handgun until you are 21. Explain that logic…)
We don’t let people drive a car without multiple hours of training and an exam, but this isn’t required in Texas. All you need is ID and to fill out a form they will check against National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to see if you are eligible. There is no wait period. The gun is yours.
The Republican-led Texas legislature has consistently weakened gun safety laws. According to Giffords Law Center:
What Texas Is Missing
- Universal background checks
- Gun owner licensing
- Extreme risk protection orders
- Most domestic violence gun laws
- Assault weapon restrictions
- Large capacity magazine ban
- Waiting periods
- Strong concealed carry law
- Open carry regulations
- Community violence intervention funding
Some Things You Can Do
- Vote for people who support common sense gun laws.
- Learn more about grassroots groups that support gun safety like Moms Demand Action
- Contact your representatives and demand change
- Attend one of the nation-wide March For Our Lives rallies on June 11
Thoughts and prayers aren’t helping. We need to come together to find some common ground to keep our communities, our families, our kids safe.
Copyright (c) 2022 Lisa Traugott. All rights reserved
I couldn’t agree more! After the events of last week, I surrendered my gun, which I got in my divorce, to the police department. I hadn’t even taken it out of the hard case it was in (with a trigger lock on it) for at least 10 years. I called 9-1-1, since that area doesn’t have a non-emergency line, and they dispatched an officer to come by to get the firearm. The officer who picked it up ran a background check of the gun, checked my driver’s license, and took the gun to be destroyed. This means one less gun in the world. It’s not much, but I’m just done. I feel like something is different this time, and I hope I’m right because this HAS to stop!
Good for you! And thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing your views as someone who supports gun safety.
Yes to everything!