Pray for (insert your town here)
We’ve prayed for Charleston, Aurora, Wakefield, Columbine, Isla Vista, Ft. Wayne, Sandy Hook… Isn’t it time to do more than just pray?
By the time this comes out, we’ll all have posted statuses, had heated debates and nothing will have changed. It’s odd how autonomously programmed we’ve become in our to response to mass shootings. The collective shock of lives being abruptly ended disrupts our routine for a few days before a return to schedule. It’s been a little over three weeks since the Umpqua College Shooting and it already feels like we’ve moved on. Much like the Five Stages of Grief, our reaction after each mass killing has fallen into a pattern easily observed in real time on twitter, Facebook, and other social media. While we are shaken from normalcy that pattern emerges:
1. The shock and disbelief.
2. The anger.
3. The call to prayer.
4. The gun debate.
5. We move on.
6. Rinse. Repeat.
Whether it’s been a movie theater, school, mall, or other public arena, our anguish sparks a reaction that burns out as quickly as it came. I’m as guilty as anyone.
Anytime the public broaches the topic of gun control, there are those that react with extreme hostility and obstinacy, killing any opportunity for progress or debate. America is like Charlie Brown getting ready to kick the football, but every time the ball is pulled away, a bunch of people get murdered. Yet we let Lucy swear that next time, it’ll be different. The unwillingness to budge on any kind of support for gun control is literally killing people. Gun owners may not feel uniformly, but why is it that we are held at the mercy of a minority that would seek to put out fires with gasoline?
“If only teachers were armed, then kids in class would never get shot.”
“If everyone had guns, then you could stop mass shooters.”
It’s impossible to negotiate with John Woo fetishists whose standard for classrooms, churches and malls is the Matrix.
Sensible gun control measures have worked in the past to curtail the number of casualties. However, when reform is proposed today, the stock response provided by pro-gun masses directly contribute to the cycle of mass shootings. We’re forced to play verbal tennis with those that feel that the American democratic process itself is at stake without the protection afforded by guns. With such an outlying position, anything that would normally be seen as a fair and reasonable compromise is met with fury. Universal background checks? SOCIALIST! Closing gun show loopholes and getting rid of patchwork legislation?SPOONS MAKE YOU FAT!
I get that you’re upset. You didn’t do anything wrong, and you feel like your toys are being taken away. That being said, I have yet to hear a single politician come close to writing a bill that would bring your patriot nightmare to life. In fact, our leaders are more likely to provide platitudes than substance. Calling for prayer rather than offering viable solutions is an insult to the families of the deceased when coming from those with the actual ability to change policy. It’s not enough to say “Oh how we WISH we had some kind of authority to write laws to help implement buy back programs, streamline and enact uniform gun laws, close gun show loopholes, and instate mandatory background checks, but let’s pray and hope it gets better.”
Set aside the impulse to remind us that you’re a responsible gun owner and ask yourself if there is any legitimacy in the common responses to the shouting matches that happen after every tragedy:
- “It won’t stop criminals.” — Well then I guess we shouldn’t bother locking our cars or houses. Criminals are like the Juggernaut. They just can’t be stopped.
- “Cars kill people, too.” — Yeah, cars kill people, but you know what else does? Everything.
- “Look at Chicago.” — Oh, so NOW black lives matter?
- “I need it to protect my family.” — Shhhh… Sit down, Red Dawn.
- “I don’t trust the spooky Government.” — So you have a few guns, but they have TANKS…. You’re totally going to try and get a tank now, aren’t you?
- “But the Second Amendment.” — Amendments change. That’s literally what the word “amend” means.
- “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” — Do guns have hidden functions I’m not aware of? Are they also food processors? I was under the impression that a gun’s sole purpose was firing metal into living things so they stop doing that pesky living thing, but even I might buy one if they also shoot out freshly made pesto.
- “Lone Wolf/Mental Illness.” — It sure would be great if there were better systems in place so “crazy people” couldn’t get guns, right?
- “Did I mention I’m a responsible gun owner? Because I’m a responsible gun owner.” — Yes, you did. Many, many, many, many times.
All mockery aside, is there really any merit to the memes that mock basic limitations on assault weapons?
No.
How can anyone reasonably justify inaction after comparing gun deaths in the US to the rest of the world, or when analyzing the regularity of school shootings? Does the staggering number of deaths do nothing to shake the death grip to a few misappropriated sentences in the constitution?
The issue of gun control won’t be solved by citizens debating each other to a standstill, regardless of statistics or white fragility. There is too much money at stake for Congress to act on their own volition. Lobbyists hold too much power over elected officials to ever be held accountable for the kind of unrealistic and dangerous solutions they offer.
President Obama called on voters to put pressure on Congress. It’s the most practical and direct opportunity we have to break the cycle and curb the rate at which we weep, debate, and then move on. It will undoubtedly lead to a reactionary response, bumping up sales on guns, and increasing the rhetoric that the “tyrannical Socialist Obama is going to take your guns away,” but it’s a necessary step if those same folks who yell about how ALL lives matter genuinely care about all lives.
Among all the clamor, the only thing we can be certain of is that continuing to ignore the issue politically hasn’t worked. Debating strangers and family members who shame you for “politicizing a tragedy” hasn’t worked. Mental health evaluation, lone wolf conspiracies, and misunderstood teens are scapegoats and band-aid solutions to the ever present danger of mass shootings. The cycle needs to end. We need to address the number of readily available arsenals and the repercussion that has on our ability to safely go out in public or send our children to school.
If now is not the time for the gun control debate, when is?
