Hi, kids. We had another school shooting this week, this time down in Georgia. A troubled kid who was apparently on some kind of FBI watch list was given a gun by his dad, and eventually off he went to school to do the thing it seems like he was — pardon the phrasing — gunning to do. It’s horrific. It’s horrific every time it happens. Every time it happens, parents weep into cameras, teachers make heartfelt statements about their terror, and kids ... well, the kids. Y’all suffer. And we all watch that on our screens and tell each other how special the dead kids were and how sorry and outraged we are.
I think there’s some hope that, if only someone is sad enough, if only some teacher is persuasive enough, if only some kid is dead enough, finally people will do something about this. But there has been so much sadness and so many heartfelt pleas and so many dead children, and all we’ve ever gotten are thoughts and prayers.
People are still grieving the deaths of three students and three staff members — and still asking for gun safety legislation
Jesus’ brother James says — and I’m paraphrasing here — shit in one hand and put your prayers in the other and see which fills up faster. Every Christian politician bragging about his or her faith knows James’ critique of claiming you have faith but not doing anything to help the people who need it. James literally says — and I’m paraphrasing less here — oh wow, you believe in God. Cool. Cool. So do demons.
Politicians have a lot of power to stop this. The Second Amendment says the militia made up of all these citizen gun owners should be “well-regulated.” Citizens can own guns. The government can regulate them. This is plain as day in the text, and it also makes sense in historical context. If you needed everyone in, say, Delaware to be ready to defend themselves against South Carolina, you don’t want five guys with rifles, two guys with shotguns, a dozen guys with slingshots and then everyone else with Nerf guns they stole from their kids. In order to have an effective citizen army (Note: We don’t currently have any need of a citizen army), the government has to be able to say, “Here are the guns you can have, and here are the weapons you can’t.”
We’re in a situation now where it’s not just that the Second Amendment is somehow more sacrosanct than any other amendment — somehow it’s only the last half of it, and most folks seem not even to know that the first half exists.
Politicians could regulate firearms in this country. They are choosing not to.
Gun owners have also fucked this up for the rest of us. I know I’ve made this point before, but it never ceases to be shocking to me. Things didn’t used to be like this. I grew up in a pre-Columbine world where kids had guns in their trucks regularly, especially during hunting season. Guns were a ubiquitous tool. But you kept them locked up.
Tens of thousands of guns have been stolen from cars in Tennessee over the past decade
Think of how much money gun manufacturers and lobbying groups have. Now ask yourself this: When was the last time you saw a public service announcement about the six basic tenets of gun safety?
- Assume every gun is loaded.
- Don’t touch the gun unless you intend to shoot it.
- Don’t aim it at something or someone unless you intend to shoot it.
- Know what’s behind your target.
- Store your guns in a safe, locked container that children cannot access.Â
Everyone should know these rules. There’s no reason they aren’t plastered on billboards throughout the nation, recited in ads on your favorite podcasts, repeated by gun owners in appropriate situations. They don’t do the easy shit that would help because they don’t want to.
And there’s an even worse subsection of gun owners — the parents who know their kid is troubled and their solution to making the kid feel better is to buy him a gun. Adam Lanza’s mom took him to the shooting range. The Waffle House killer’s dad gave him access to firearms after the cops took his guns. The Georgia shooter's dad gave him access to firearms after being told he was troubled.Â
These parents do not care about you. They seem to barely be able to care about the danger they’re putting themselves in.Â
And this is a thing you need to understand: Things are how they are because this is what people will accept. There’s no downside for politicians failing you. There’s no downside for gun owners and the gun industry when they disregard you. We’re only just now starting to see prosecutors figure out how to make people who give their troubled kids access to guns regret that decision, but that’s far too little, far too late.
State House votes yes as gun safety advocates voice opposition from the gallery
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One thing that’s very hard to accept is that you can like the shit out of someone, agree with them about just about everything, love hanging out with them, and someday they might hit you. In theory, we all know this is wrong. Someone who loves you does not deliberately hurt you. But when you’re in the situation, and you care about the person ... man, you will come up with so many reasons why it wasn’t that bad or they just didn’t know better or it was that bad, but they had a bad childhood, or yes, it was unacceptable and they know that now. But the truth is that they don’t love you. Not fully. And sure, maybe it is because they never knew love themselves, but you cannot let someone hurt you enough that they will stop hurting you. Your pain and sacrifice now won’t buy you peace later.Â
You can’t love someone into being good to you. All you can do is protect yourself from them. Learn how to see them coming a mile away and believe them when they show you who they are the first time.
If you’re fucked-up and depressed and your parents know that and they buy you a gun anyway, they can say they love you all they want, but their actions don’t show it. If a politician refuses to pass common-sense legislation on guns, that politician and the people who vote for them don’t have your best interests at heart, and you need to protect yourself from them. If the gun industry isn’t constantly making sure everyone knows basic gun safety, it is because they don’t care to keep you safer.
But Betsy, I’m a depressed kid who hates school but still doesn’t want to die in a school shooting, and my parents voted for Andy Ogles and got me a rifle for Christmas. Are you saying they don’t love me?
I’m saying they don’t love you how you deserve to be loved, and I hope you don’t mistake the paltry half-measures they take to show you love as being all there is to love. And I hope you keep your eye on them, because those fools don’t have your best interests at heart.
