Colorado
20 July 2012
“The suspect was in possession of a clip with more than 20 rounds, a federal official said, that would have been illegal under an assault rifle ban that expired in 2004.” – New York Times, July 20, 2012
I’m going to do it. I’m going to once again jump into the fray because I told my husband on the phone today I didn’t want to. “I’m just one voice among millions and I’m tired,” I said. We’re all tired. Not “I need to take a nap” tired, but weary – of the pain, the sadness, the inevitability. When the husband told me this morning about the shootings in Aurora, Colorado, it wasn’t shock I felt; more like nausea. More like I’m somehow responsible because I haven’t made my voice loud enough. Clearly none of us has.
Assault weapons – guns that involve high capacity magazines – allowing a shooter to fire shot after shot after shot within seconds MUST BE BANNED. I don’t want to hear the bullshit – crazy persons intent on killing others will find a way regardless of gun laws, the argument goes. That’s true. But do numbers mean nothing? Seventy-one people were shot in a movie theatre last night, lickety-split, pow-pow-pow. Twelve of those victims are dead. James Holmes MIGHT have obtained a semi-automatic weapon illegally if he really wanted to or needed to, but the point is HE DIDN’T HAVE TO. His guns were purchased fair and square, and capable of wiping out a large group of people in seconds, which is exactly what he did. Why? We don’t know and will never understand, regardless of what he tells us. What we do know? Guns. Yeah, we know guns.
“The National Rifle Association has successfully turned us into a bunch of cowards for how we feel about guns, at the expense of nine-year-old Christina Green. Had Jared Loughner not been able to get that gun so easily, he might have had to use a knife. Or perhaps a simple revolver with six bullets, instead of the thirty-one rounds Loughner was able to fire off in a matter of seconds.” – Daily Cup of Jo, January 2011
There were children killed last night, too. The police haven’t released all of the names of the victims, but Alex Sullivan died on his birthday. He was twenty-seven. It was as random an event as attending high school (Columbine), college (Virginia Tech), or shopping at the mall (Omaha, Salt Lake). In other words, don’t say “I don’t go to midnight screenings”, or “I’d never take my baby with me to that movie.” Maybe that’s true. Maybe you’re the type instead who’s thrilled to have a lovely next-door-neighbor invite your nine-year-old daughter to join her at the supermarket to listen to your local congresswoman on a Saturday afternoon (Tucson).
The more guns that exist in our world, the worse off we are. This isn’t a partisan issue. I don’t believe the average Republican wants more guns on the street any more than I do. Democrats are as much to blame for their cowardice in shrinking like violets in the face of the NRA’s influence and money. Until our voices are louder than theirs, they win, assault weapons continue to be legal, and it’s only a matter of time before the next mass shooting occurs. How does that make you feel? That the bullies who insist on the freedom to buy almost any gun, almost anywhere, with almost no questions asked are winning this argument over and over and over again?
It makes me feel sick.
Just because you’re one voice among millions doesn’t mean you should stay silent. The assault weapons debate shouldn’t even be a debate. Speak up. Write to your senator AND your congressional representative.
Read these articles:
What Happened to the Ban on Assault Weapons? New York Times, 2009, by Jimmy Carter
When will American wake up to gun violence? CNN.com, 7/20/2012, by John J. Donohue
One More Massacre, The New Yorker, 7/20/2012, by Adam Gopnik
Colorado movie massacre part of the gun culture script, Orlando Sentinel, 7/20/2012, Darryl E. Owens
The NRA has America living under the gun, Salon, 7/20/2012, by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship
“The suspect was in possession of a clip with more than 20 rounds, a federal official said, that would have been illegal under an assault rifle ban that expired in 2004.” – New York Times, July 20, 2012
I’m going to do it. I’m going to once again jump into the fray because I told my husband on the phone today I didn’t want to. “I’m just one voice among millions and I’m tired,” I said. We’re all tired. Not “I need to take a nap” tired, but weary – of the pain, the sadness, the inevitability. When the husband told me this morning about the shootings in Aurora, Colorado, it wasn’t shock I felt; more like nausea. More like I’m somehow responsible because I haven’t made my voice loud enough. Clearly none of us has.
Assault weapons – guns that involve high capacity magazines – allowing a shooter to fire shot after shot after shot within seconds MUST BE BANNED. I don’t want to hear the bullshit – crazy persons intent on killing others will find a way regardless of gun laws, the argument goes. That’s true. But do numbers mean nothing? Seventy-one people were shot in a movie theatre last night, lickety-split, pow-pow-pow. Twelve of those victims are dead. James Holmes MIGHT have obtained a semi-automatic weapon illegally if he really wanted to or needed to, but the point is HE DIDN’T HAVE TO. His guns were purchased fair and square, and capable of wiping out a large group of people in seconds, which is exactly what he did. Why? We don’t know and will never understand, regardless of what he tells us. What we do know? Guns. Yeah, we know guns.
“The National Rifle Association has successfully turned us into a bunch of cowards for how we feel about guns, at the expense of nine-year-old Christina Green. Had Jared Loughner not been able to get that gun so easily, he might have had to use a knife. Or perhaps a simple revolver with six bullets, instead of the thirty-one rounds Loughner was able to fire off in a matter of seconds.” – Daily Cup of Jo, January 2011
There were children killed last night, too. The police haven’t released all of the names of the victims, but Alex Sullivan died on his birthday. He was twenty-seven. It was as random an event as attending high school (Columbine), college (Virginia Tech), or shopping at the mall (Omaha, Salt Lake). In other words, don’t say “I don’t go to midnight screenings”, or “I’d never take my baby with me to that movie.” Maybe that’s true. Maybe you’re the type instead who’s thrilled to have a lovely next-door-neighbor invite your nine-year-old daughter to join her at the supermarket to listen to your local congresswoman on a Saturday afternoon (Tucson).
The more guns that exist in our world, the worse off we are. This isn’t a partisan issue. I don’t believe the average Republican wants more guns on the street any more than I do. Democrats are as much to blame for their cowardice in shrinking like violets in the face of the NRA’s influence and money. Until our voices are louder than theirs, they win, assault weapons continue to be legal, and it’s only a matter of time before the next mass shooting occurs. How does that make you feel? That the bullies who insist on the freedom to buy almost any gun, almost anywhere, with almost no questions asked are winning this argument over and over and over again?
It makes me feel sick.
Just because you’re one voice among millions doesn’t mean you should stay silent. The assault weapons debate shouldn’t even be a debate. Speak up. Write to your senator AND your congressional representative.
Read these articles:
What Happened to the Ban on Assault Weapons? New York Times, 2009, by Jimmy Carter
When will American wake up to gun violence? CNN.com, 7/20/2012, by John J. Donohue
One More Massacre, The New Yorker, 7/20/2012, by Adam Gopnik
Colorado movie massacre part of the gun culture script, Orlando Sentinel, 7/20/2012, Darryl E. Owens
The NRA has America living under the gun, Salon, 7/20/2012, by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship
Amen!!!! Amen!!!!! Amen!!!! I am sickened and nauseous and sad and grieving!
I will write and write and write, and I will speak up. Thank you for your post.
Besides paying off the politicians with hefty campaign donations, the pro-gun lobby always screams that gun control activists want to take away our freedom. But freedom to do what? To mass murder men, women and children? To wreak havoc in our communities? Where’s the common sense in that? Nobody’s looking to take guns away from hunters and collectors, just the criminals and crazies.
Thank you so much for this post. “The more guns that exist in our world, the worse off we are. This isn’t a partisan issue. ”
I agree with you so much and the insanity of the gun situation in our country makes me so furious. I am brokenhearted about the senseless murders that have happened yet again- murders that happened so easily. Every thing this madman got his hands on was done legally. It is maddening and you are right that none of us have made our voices loud enough.
Can it be that this nutcase bought an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, a .40 caliber Glock handgun and a Remington 12-gauge shotgun and in approving his purchases it didn’t set off SOMETHING…ANYTHING…in a national database? Really? And those weren’t the only weapons he owned. Something has got to change. What a sad state that the likelihood of anything happening in an election year to change our gun control laws is highly unlikely. I, too, am outraged. Let’s come up with some way to create the change we want to see. There has to be a way to appease the Second Amendment gun owners and those of us who need these laws to be much stricter than they are. My thinking cap is on.
Our founding fathers were living with muskets, a weapon that takes time to load and fire just one shot. I don’t think they envisioned clips with 50 or 60 rounds (or more) in assault weapons when they were writing the Second Amendment. I don’t want to take all guns away. I want better background checks and waiting periods. I want the assault weapon prohibition reinstated. I want clips and magazines to be limited in the number of bullets they can hold. If a collector wants to own an assault weapon, I want it to be rendered totally useless or they can’t own it. There are probably other things I want but those are at the top of my thoughts.
Thank you for your thoughts Michael. I agree with all of your ideas. Sadly, every article I’ve read that talks about possible actions on this subject says it’s absolutely not going to happen in an election year. To say that makes me crazy is an understatement, even as I know it’s probably true. Come November, providing Obama wins, the silent majority – and I believe it’s a majority – must demand change. No more gun show loopholes. No more high capacity clips. – Jo